Increased demand stresses Wyoming Medicaid funding

A story in Monday's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle addressed the state's Medicaid and CHIP programs.

The number of children on Wyoming Kid Care CHIP is declining, but the number of children on Medicaid is going up.

Bob Peck, chief financial officer for the Wyoming Department of Health, said one explanation could be that parents are losing their jobs.

Formerly working parents who had their children on the Kid Care program for child health insurance may be having to enroll their families directly into Medicaid, he said.

Medicaid is the health program for lower-income people that is funded by the states, as well as the federal government. Kid Care CHIP offers health insurance coverage for Wyoming's children and teens through age 18 that are uninsured and meet income and eligibility guidelines.

Peck said the number of Kid Care children dropped from 6,200 to 5,400 over the past year. The number of children enrolled in Medicaid in fiscal year 2008 was 49,719, while in fiscal 2009 it was 52,185.

The number of children receiving Medicaid services in fiscal 2008 was 44,114, while in fiscal 2009 it was 45,746. Medicaid expenditures for children jumped from $126.4 million to $143.8 million, according to information Peck provided to the Wyoming Legislature's Joint Appropriations Interim Committee last week.

My daughter Annie was one of the 44,114 on the Medicaid rolls in FY 2008 and one of the 45,746 children receiving Medicaid services in FY 2009.

As I've said in earlier posts, Annie qualified for Medicaid coverage under the Children's Mental Health Waiver. In that program, teens can qualify for Medicaid coverage because the Wyoming Health Department factors in their income and not their parents. If the incomes of my wife and I were factored in, Annie would not have qualified. She would not have received intensive inpatient mental health services and we don't know where she would be now. Still dealing with her mental illness, and untreated. Still suicidal and still cutting her arms and her legs.

But she did get the appropriate care, thanks to federal health care programs, and she is now back in school and taking mainstream classes instead of special ed courses. I have nothing against accommodations made for K-12 students. In fact, I'm all for it. My tax dollars -- and yours -- at work. Those taxes being spent on special ed and mental health care come mainly from the feds, as Wyoming has ridiculously low tax rates -- and no state income tax.

But educational services such as I.E.P.s and special classes don't have to last forever. They exist to give young people a helping hand and when that helping hand is no longer needed, it is released and can be used for another deserving student. There always are more deserving students.

All told, Annie spent 11 months in mental health rehabilitation centers, both in Colorado and Wyoming. The Wyoming Mental Health Waiver kicked in when our insurance ran out after 45 days. Medicaid paid for 225 more days on treatment by nurses and psychiatrists and other mental health professionals. Total bill for her care was in six figures.

As parents, we did the paperwork and wrangled with insurance companies. We visited every weekend and went to family therapy sessions once or twice a week. We checked out Annie for short shopping excursions and spent the weekend with friends in Casper so we could see Annie another day before driving the 180 miles back to Cheyenne to our jobs and other responsibilities.

Chris and I have means. I work for the state and Chris works for the YMCA. We don't have big salaries. We do own a house and have two used cars. We eat on a regular basis, and occasionally take a vacation. We don't own any solid gold umbrella stands, unlike the Wall Street rip-off artists who ran this country into the ground. We aren't war profiteers like Dick Cheney. He may not own a solid gold umbrella stand, as umbrellas are as rare in Wyoming as humidity. But I hear tell that Cheney has a gilded shotgun.

Wyoming is notoriously cheap. I worked for ten years without a raise. When Annie was born in 1993, my wife was unemployed and we enrolled in the WIC program so we could get milk and juice and cereal for our family. My wife's workplace offers health insurance but at a price so steep that she and my daughter are on my state plan. If the House health care bill passes the Senate (not likely) and its provisions enacted immediately, my 24-year-old son could be covered for three years under my insurance plan. Alas, even if the Senate concurred with the House bill, most of its provisions won't be enacted until 2013. My son will be a year too old for the 27-year-old coverage stipulation.

That's the problem. As we dither over health care reform, real people are getting sick and dying. Rep. Grayson had it right when he described the Repubs' health care plan: "Don't get sick. If you get sick, die quickly."

But my subject is mental health. The Medicaid plan is crucial for those families faced with a bipolar or depressed or suicidal teen -- and no idea what to do or where to go for help. Help is hard to find in this state. When you do, it has a cost.

Much more on this subject in the coming weeks...

Mental health issues, in war and in peace

I am not a military veteran, and only know about war second-hand.

But I do know depression first-hand. I know how DNA and bad juju can combine to make a potent cocktail of melancholia. It can lead to extensive funks or something worse. Suicide, even murderous rampages.

Vietnam veteran and former Georgia congressman Max Cleland wrote a stirring op-ed Saturday in the New York Times. He was severely wounded in Vietnam in 1968, and treated at Walter Reed Medical center for his injuries. His post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) didn't rear its ugly head until the breakout of the Iraq War caused him to relive his own experiences. He sought help by returning to Walter Reed.

I never saw it coming. Forty years after I had left the battlefield, my memories of death and wounding were suddenly as fresh and present as they had been in 1968. I thought I was past that. I learned that none of us are ever past it. Were it not for the surgeons and nurses at Walter Reed, I never would have survived those first months back from Vietnam. Were it not for the counselors there today, I do not think I would have survived what I’ve come to call my second Vietnam, the one that played out entirely in my mind.

When I was wounded, post-traumatic stress disorder did not officially exist. It was recognized as a legitimate illness only in 1978, during my tenure as head of the Veterans Administration under President Jimmy Carter. Today, it is not only recognized, but the Army and the V.A. know how to treat it. I can offer no better testament than my own recovery.

Cleland documents all of this in his new book (co-authored with Ben Raines), "Heart of a Patriot: How I Found the Courage to Survive Vietnam, Walter Reed and Karl Rove." I plan to read it. It will make a good companion piece to a book I read last summer, "A War of Nerves: Soldiers and psychiatrists 1914-1994" by Ben Shephard. In it, the author documents "shell shock," "battle fatigue," "neurasthenia," "gas poisoning" and all of the terms used in other 20th century wars to describe PTSD. A fascinating look at the inner workings of the machinery of war, especially the ongoing conflict between the needs of the soldiers for psychiatric treatment and the needs of the generals to wage war.

In the early wars of the century, the generals usually got their way. Mental health professionals on all sides struggled to address soldiers with shell shock from their time in the trenches. British doctors sent soldiers home at an alarming rate. The generals objected and the soldiers spent time in recovery near the front. It was discovered that proximity to the war zone actually worked better than sending them home to fester in a hospital or to be looked upon with pity by people with absolutely no idea of what really happened at Ypres and Paschendale and the Somme. Newspapers operated under wartime restrictions. The people at home could only guess at the scope of the horror.

Some writers and poets documented the slaughter. Wilfred Owen said it best in the preface he wrote for the book that he'd never see:

Cleland continues in his op-ed:

There are estimates that 35 percent of the soldiers who fought in Iraq will suffer post-traumatic stress disorder. I’m sure the numbers for Afghanistan are similar. Researchers have found that nearly half of those returning with the disorder have suicidal thoughts. Suicide among active-duty soldiers is on pace to hit a record total this year. More than 1.7 million soldiers have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Imagine that some 600,000 of them will have crippling memories, trapped in a vivid and horrible past from which they can’t seem to escape.

We need to make sure that returning soldiers and sailors and marines get the mental health care they need. It's crucial for them. Very important for the rest of us. Don't let those stereotypes get cranked up again. During the 1970s and 1980s, we heard a lot about "crazed Vietnam vets." An exaggeration, to be sure, as most Viet vets were working and having families and buying houses. Maybe they got help for PSTD or never experienced its effects. But there were some who went off the deep end and got all the attention.

Let's not let this bad image get started. Take care of our veterans NOW. And do it right.

Shame on CIGNA, my health insurer

This comes from Buzzflash:

On the same day Cigna posted a 92 percent increase in 3rd quarter profits, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) released the following statement condemning Cigna for its opposition to health care reform.

"Cigna opposes urgently needed health care reform, and today we know why. Millions of Americans are struggling to provide health care for their families, while Cigna today reported its third quarter profits had soared, nearly doubling. For Cigna, maintaining the status is a good thing – for America, it would be a disaster."

"Our health care reform bill helps the families and businesses that need affordable health care and want to stop price-gouging by insurers."

The Affordable Health Care for America Act, H.R. 3962, includes a number of provisions to prevent price-gouging and ensure premiums are reasonable. It requires publicly-disclosed justification of all premium increases before they go into effect and includes provisions, authored by Rep. Schakowsky, that require rate review of premiums so that excessive increases are denied.

It limits the amount of premium dollars to 15 percent that insurance companies can spend on things other than providing health care: profits, marketing, and bureaucracy. It makes health insurers subject to federal antitrust laws for the first time since 1945. And it provides funds for states to beef up their regulatory oversight. All these provisions would take effect next year in 2010.

Health care reform bill passes U.S. House

And as if you didn't know -- Wyoming lone Rep., Cynthia Lummis of Cheyenne, continued her role as a Republican Know-Nothing and voted against the bill. She did vote for an earlier amendment that would limit women's right to choose. Busy day for Rep. Lummis.

FMI: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/health/policy/08health.html?_r=1&hp

Follow health care reform as it happens

This info comes to hummingbirdminds from Mike Kruger, online outreach specialist, U.S. HOuse Committee on Education and Labor:

Dear Michael:

As I’m sure you’ve heard the House plans to vote on the Affordable Health Care for America Act - H.R. 3962 this weekend. I thought you and the folks at Hummingbirdminds blog would be interested in how this bill would benefit them specifically.

We have an interactive graphic to find out exactly how health insurance reform will affect individuals -- http://majorityleader.house.gov/links_and_resources/health_care/index.cfm -- with nice embeddable code so you can keep your readers from straying.

Impacts of Health Insurance Reform by Individual Congressional Districts --
http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1802:hr-3962-the-affordable-health-care-for-america-act-district-by-district-impact&catid=169:legislation&Itemid=55 -- so you can grab the ones for Wyoming.

We have a clearinghouse page with all kinds of information --
http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/2009/10/affordable-health-care.shtml -- for
virtually all other questions about the legislation.

Let me know if you have any additional questions.

Cheers,

Mike Kruger
http://edlabor.house.gov
http://www.twitter.com/edlabordems
http://www.facebook.com/EdLaborCommittee

Mental health care for Wyoming teens is usually far from home

Let's say that your 16-year-old daughter announces in the dead of night that she wants to commit suicide. It's nothing to trifle with. You rush her off to the local hospital emergency room. The staff psychiatrist, psychologist and social worker assess her and decide that she needs to be evaluated at the nearest residential treatment center. She's a threat to herself and can't go home. Everyone agrees, including the parents.

Their choices are limited. The adolescent unit of the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center's behavioral health center was closed last year. The nearest in-patient centers are in Fort Collins, Colo., and Laramie, Wyo. -- each about 50 miles from Cheyenne. Easy drives for six months of the year. Not so easy the other six months, especially the jaunt over the mountains to Laramie's Ivinson Hospital. Next closest choice is in Denver. Next closest Wyoming choice is Casper, 180 miles away on I-25. This is a bit less than the driving distance between our nation's capital and New York City. Traffic is lighter, though.

These only are options if you have insurance. As we know from recent statistics, more than 70,000 residents are uninsured, including 13,000 children. The Wyoming Department of Health has what it calls the Children's Mental Health Waiver. This allows parents of modest income to receive treatment for their mentally ill teen using Medicaid dollars. The waiver plan considers only the teen's income -- and not the parents' -- to qualify. Once you qualify, the plan kicks in where your insurance coverage leaves off. It covers both inpatient and outpatients treatment. If you're in a residential center, the waiver also pays for educational costs provided through the local school district. These are teens, after all, and they have a lot of classes to keep up with.

The waiver program recently changed. Now psychiatric care is considered separately from educational costs. Not sure why that happened. Maybe because Medicaid dollars are running short. Maybe it's due to governmental infighting. Who knows? I do know that our daughter received more than $150,000 dollars of residential center care in 2008 and thousands of dollars more in aftercare expenses in 2009. We're on our own as of Sept. 30. That was about 18 months of our government picking up the tab for a disturbed teen. We had to fill out paperwork and put together a wraparound care team and check in with therapists. But we didn't have to worry every day that our insurance coverage will reach its 45-day limit (which it did) and our bipolar daughter would be booted out into the street. That brought some peace of mind as we drove 360 round-trip miles each weekend to visit Annie and participate in therapy sessions.

Most Wyoming parents with troubled teens don't know about the waiver. I only knew about it because I'm on the board of UPLIFT, the Wyoming affiliate of the Federation of Families For Children's Mental Health. I've told other parents about it. Some have checked it out but only a few have actually gone through the process of using it. They may think of it as a government handout. They may be intimidated by the process. Some parents have their own mental health issues. Others are just busy trying to make a living.

It would be very helpful if we could take our teens to a local residential treatment center rather than shipping them all over creation. These are kids, after all, and they need to be close to their support system which is family in its many forms. It is difficult in this state of few people and wide open spaces. But there must be a way to do it. Act locally, think globally. That's a good slogan for our times. Local treatment for our kids would be good for our community. But where to start?

The scenario at the start of this piece was real. What choice did those parents make? They decided to keep their daughter at home. They will keep up with therapy appointments and make sure that her daughter gets the right medications and takes them regularly. They are doing all they can. They also harbor fears that they may not be doing enough of the right things for their child. They also wonder if it wouldn't be better to leave this state of many natural wonders for life in a place with better health care facilities that are closer to home.

In Cheyenne, the uninsured are up the creek

Great series of health care articles by Michelle Dynes in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. The headline for the front-page article was "Resources shrink for uninsured." The main resource that is shrinking for the local uninsured is the Cheyenne Community Clinic, which will close on Dec. 31 for lack of funding. Laramie County United Way did not approve the clinic's latest funding request -- it gets more than half of its $190,00 budget from LCUW.

Other local entities feeling the pinch are the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center's emergency room, the Cheyenne Community Clinic, University of Wyoming's Family Medicine Residency program and Access Health Care.

Access Health Care's Dr. Jason Bloomberg "said he wishes that Wyoming congressional delegates would take the time to volunteer at one of the clinics that serve the uninsured."

That would be a learning experience. Especially for Dr. John Barrasso (R-WY), who consistently votes against health care reform. You'd think a doctor would know better.

Here are some facts and figures from the article which may or may not astound you

CRMC emergency room saw 37,000 patients this year; 24,000 four years ago.

Fifteen percent of Laramie County's population are totally uninsured, without even Medicare and Medicaid; that's 12,320 people.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: 49,988 working Wyomingites went without health insurance coverage between 2006-2007; 42,433 working Wyomingites went without coverage between 1994-1995.

The UW Program recorded 32,000 patients visits in 2008, 9,800 in 2004.

The Henry J. Kaiser Foundation: Uninsured cancer patients are more likely to be diagnosed later and to die earlier than those with insurance.

These are sobering statistics. It appears that we all have someone in our neighborhood without health insurance. And that neighbor is probably working.

What are we going to do about this?

Names of the Dead on the Day of the Dead

Wyoming Democrats support public option

The Wyoming Democratic Party is asking state residents to support the public option in health care reform. You can go to the WyoDems' web site and print out a petition calling for the public option. Get ten supporters to sign on and send it back to the WyoDems so they can send it to D.C. along with hundreds (we hope) of other signed petitions. Find the printable petition at http://www.wyomingdemocrats.com/ht/d/Blogger/pid/273375

This is especially important for Wyoming because we have one U.S. senator (Enzi) who was one of the "Gang of Six" on the Senate Finance Committee who spent most of the past year obstructing real reform. No surprise that Sen. Enzi has received a total of $781,419 during his career from the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries (source: American Spectator).

Let's put that in perspective. The Cheyenne Community Clinic just announced that it will close by the end of the year. The Clinic, referred to by director Murray Lou Rex as "the safety net to the safety net," receives its $190,000 budget from United Way, Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, the City of Cheyenne and Laramie County. The United Way has decided to end its support. This is a crushing blow, as it supplies half the clinic's budget.

Imagine that Sen. Enzi used his ill-gotten gains from Big Insurers and Big Pharma to fill the gap left by United Way. That would keep the clinic running eight more years, allowing its volunteer docs, pharmacists and nurses to rack up another 16,000 "patient encounters."

Our other U.S. senator, John Barrasso, is a newbie so we cut him a bit of slack. However, he's one of the handful of physicians in the U.S. Congress, so we do have expect a little more empathy and sensitivity from him. Alas, we haven't seen it when it comes to health care votes. He voted against the Children's Health Insurance Program, commonly known as CHIP or SCHIP. Wyoming has 6,314 children enrolled in CHIP, according to Nov. 2008 statistics released by the Children's Defense Fund. Imagine voting to cut off funding for 6,314 children? I can't.

And what about freshman U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis? She tows the Republican Party line and votes against anything promoted by Pres. Obama. She also is the 15th-wealthiest member of Congress. We pay for her health insurance. We also pay for Sen. Enzi's Medicare coverage.

So Wyoming Democrats are urging their senators and lone rep to dig deep for some thoughtfulness and empathy when it comes time to vote for real health care reform.

Here's the wording from the WyoDems' petition:

The heath care system of the United States is in crisis. Almost fifty million Americans completely lack health insurance, including more than 70,000 people in Wyoming. Tens of millions more lack adequate coverage, and the millions who do have private coverage are paying increasingly unaffordable premiums, resulting in inadequate access to care and premature death, illness, or financial ruin for millions of Americans.

Nationwide, public polls show that a majority of Americans want health care reform to offer the choice of a robust public option similar to Medicare in order to, in the words of President Obama, “keep the insurance companies honest.” At the same time, co-ops or so-called “triggers” are inadequate in and of themselves to address the health care crisis. We need a public option to create significant competition for the medical insurance industry and give insurance companies an incentive to control costs.

Republicans and their allies in the health insurance industry have organized and funded groups of extremists to disrupt efforts on the part of the Democratic majority and administration to reasonably discuss the issue with the American people. These supporters of the status quo have demonstrated an utter unwillingness to compromise in any way to pass meaningful health care reform.

For these reasons, we the undersigned strongly support health care reform that includes a robust public option. We hereby call on Sen. Mike Enzi, Sen. John Barrasso, and Rep. Cynthia Lummis to vote for only such health care reform proposals as contain a robust public option at all stages of the legislative process, including conference and reconciliation.

Windy football Saturday in Wyoming

High school football chicks. Central beat Laramie and advances to the next round.

Free speech is for people, not for corporations

I'm a big fan of street theatre -- all theatre, really. Earlier this month, activist actors who call themselves "Yes Men" pulled off an amazing bit of theatre when it held a fake press conference. The "characters" wore the guise of suits from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. They were announcing the Chamber's turnabout on climate change. During the press conference at the National Press Club in D.C., the fake Chamber spokesman was interrupted by a real staffer from the Chamber who contended that something foul was afoot. For several minutes, the reporters in the room were confused. Who was the real spokesman and who was the fake? The fake one was at the podium and he seemed genuine. Other reporters began firing questions about climate change policy to the supposed real staffer and he became the guy who was confused.

The activists put up a very funny video on YouTube. View it above while you still have the chance. The U.S. Chamber of Commerice is suing Yes Men. Says one of the Chamber's many lawyers: this is "a customary response by any organization faced with this type of misconduct by the defendants."

The Chamber contends that Yes Men "are not just merry pranksters tweaking the establishment."

But they are. The group regularly poses as corporate executives to show "how corporate greed negatively influences public policy."

The past eight years have revealed enough examples of that corporate greed. Yes Men have just thrown it into sharp relief.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, one of the great newspapers from America's heartland battleground, featured an editorial recently blasting the U.S. Chamber. The ultra-conservative Chamber is an activist org in its own right, bullying its members into towing its conservative anti-climate change, anti-Obama stances. According to the Post-Dispatch, the Chamber is a proponent of tort reform and an opponent of "lawsuit absue."

Concludes the editorial: "The U.S. Chamber's complaints about our litigious society shouldn't be taken seriously."

The editorial was reprinted today in our local paper headline under the headline: "U.S. Chamber tries to stifle free speech."

That's right. Corporations have come to believe that they are the only entities worthy of free speech. The Bush adminsitration took the same line. The Supreme Court has worked overtime to give speech protections to corporation. Our senators and reps have been paid handsomely to go along with this sham.

So we have to leave it up to actors to tell us the truth. The pretend suits are being sued by the real suits and it appears to be a one-sided court battle. The people wrest control of the First Amendment back from the corporations.

Meanwhile, watch the video and have a laugh at the expense of our corporate overlords.

Wyoming Winds tracks homeless issues

Each month, Virginia Sellner at the Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless, sends me the organization's Wyoming Winds newsletter. It used to be a print publication and now it's online only. It includes articles about the WCH's Welcome Mat shelter and other local issues that affect homelessness. The WCH is now raising funds for renovations to its shelter. It also needs volunteers. It always welcomes clothing items, especially coats and boots and gloves and other cold-weather gear. Very important, as we're getting an early start on the cold and snow.

Other Wyoming Winds articles are taken from similar publications in the U.S. and internationally. Some of it hits close to home as more and more families in the U.S. lose jobs and homes.

Read the November edition of Wyoming Winds at http://www.wch.vcn.com/wwnov09.htm.

For the Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless home page go to http://www.wch.vcn.com. Take a look at the fund drive and contribute a few bucks.

Rep. Lummis signs on to House resolution praising Fox News-sponsored T.E.A. Party

Array of signs from 9/12/09 D.C. teabagger march from Jon Perr's "10 Lessons for Tea Baggers" Sept. 15 post on Crooks & Liars

It's good to know that some U.S. House members have nothing more pressing on their agendas than U.S. House Resolution 870 which says this: "Expressing gratitude and appreciation to the individuals and families who participated in the Taxpayer March on Washington on September 12, 2009."

The resolution was introduced on October 26 by Rep. Price of Georgia, who lives in the Atlanta suburbs but actually is a practicing M.D. Rep. Price is best-known for the following votes (according to www.ontheissues.org/GA/Tom_Price.htm):

Voted NO on regulating tobacco as a drug. (Apr 2009)
Voted NO on expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program. (Jan 2009)
Voted NO on giving mental health full equity with physical health. (Mar 2008)
Voted NO on Veto override: Extend SCHIP to cover 6M more kids. (Jan 2008)
Voted NO on adding 2 to 4 million children to SCHIP eligibility. (Oct 2007)
Voted NO on requiring negotiated Rx prices for Medicare part D. (Jan 2007)
Voted YES on denying non-emergency treatment for lack of Medicare co-pay. (Feb 2006)

That's just a sampling. Suffice to say that he doesn't take his medical or constitutional oaths very seriously.

His co-sponsors include well-known wacko Rep. Bachmann of Ohio, who says that Obama's health care bill calls for "sex clinics;" Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, who carries a gun when home in Florida and has referred to the residents of U.S. possessions Puerto Rico and Guam as "foreign citizens;" Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona, who's concerned that the U.S. isn't doing enough to prevent Korean missiles from interrupting retirees' golf games in Lake Havasu City (H.R. 2845: Protect the Homeland from North Korean and Iranian Ballistic Missiles Act; and -- alas -- Rep. Cynthia Lummis of Cheyenne, Wyoming's lone U.S. rep, one of the staunchest opponents of real health care reform.

All these fine folks (and dozens more) are pushing HRS 870:

Whereas, on September 12, 2009, hundreds of thousands of American patriots, who refuse to sit idly by as the Federal Government advances skyrocketing deficits, taxpayer-funded bailouts, pork-barrel projects, burdensome taxes, unaccountable policy czars, command-and-control energy policy, and a government takeover of health care, came to Washington, DC, to show their disapproval;
Whereas individuals also wanted to convey their displeasure with the future tax increases that will be required to pay for deficit-financed spending;
Whereas these individuals understand that the fundamental American principles of limited government and personal liberty are under direct assault;
Whereas this dedicated group of freedom-loving Americans believe in open, accountable, responsible, constitutionally based government;
Whereas hundreds of buses, multiple caravans of cars from across the country, and many individually chartered flights, as well as thousands of lone-traveling cars and
trucks, brought these patriots to Washington, DC, solely for this event;
Whereas these individuals endured considerable personal expense to get to the march, including transportation and lodging expenses, as well as lost wages in many instances;
Whereas estimates of the number of people who peacefully marched from Freedom Plaza to the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on September 12, 2009, range as high as 1,700,000 marchers;
Whereas all 50 States were represented in the march;
Whereas this event is considered to be the largest ever gathering of fiscal conservatives in Washington, DC;
Whereas special accolades are due to the grassroots citizens organizations across the country who helped individuals exercise their constitutionally protected First Amendment rights in the Nation's capital; and
Whereas when the current trends of government expansion and freedom retrenchment are reversed, it will be due in large part to the efforts of the hundreds of thousands who marched on Washington, DC, on September 12, 2009: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives expresses its gratitude and appreciation to the hundreds of thousands of people who marched on Washington, DC, on September 12, 2009, to show their love of liberty and their grievance with recent government actions.

So many strange things about this. I'm particularly struck by the figure of 1,700,000 marchers. It's been well documented that the crowd was much, much, much lower. ABCNews.com reported an approximate figure of 60,000 to 70,000 protesters, stats supplied by the D.C., fire department. Even 60,000 people is a lot if you live in Wyoming. We don't have a single city with 60,000 people (Casper and Cheyenne come the closest at 55,000-some). So, the teabaggers have something to brag about. But wildly inflated attendance figures do nothing for this group's credibility, whatever this group may be.

It's tough to understand how the resolution can credit "grassroots citizens organizations" for the march's turnout. Unless you count Glenn Beck's Project 912 and Rupert Murdoch's Fox News as grassroots organizations. Also corporate-funded astroturf orgs.

I want to thank Rep. Lummis for spending her time on such nonsensical resolutions. On second thought, maybe this is the best way to keep her away from the more pressing issues of the day.

Matthew Shepard bill signed by Obama

Bill Luckett, E.D. of the Wyoming Democratic Party, said this about today's news release detailing the signing of the Matthew Shepard bill:

Eds, please take note of the statement below, and please also incorporate by reference the press releases Wyoming Democratic Party Communications Director Brianna Jones issued over the past couple weeks as this bill passed the House and Senate with no support from Wyoming’s obstructionist congressional delegation. Call me if you need anything! Bill Luckett at luckett@wyomingdemocrats.com

And here's the release:

Contact: DNC Press 202-863-8148

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine Issues Statement Following President Obama’s Signing of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act

Washington, D.C. – Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tim Kaine issued the following statement after President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 in the Rose Garden this afternoon. The bill - which authorizes appropriations for military activities of the Department of Defense, military construction, and defense activities of the Department of Energy - included the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, legislation that will extend new federal protections to people who are victims of violent crime
because of their gender, sexual orientation or identity, or disability. It is an update to the federal hate crimes statute that Congress first passed in 1968.

“Today, President Obama signed into law legislation that was first championed by the late Senator Ted Kennedy and has been more than a decade in the making.

“The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act will help state and local officials prosecute hate crimes by providing them with additional tools and resources. President Obama and his Administration are committed to equal rights and fairness for women, LGBT Americans, persons with disabilities -- indeed, all Americans.

"There is still much work ahead, but today, 11 years after the tragic deaths of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., President Obama has delivered on his promise to sign an inclusive hate crimes bill into law.”

This is a small step toward healing the wounds caused by Matthew Shepard's murder in Laramie on a cold October night 11 years ago. And a suitable tribute to Matt and his dedicated parents, Dennis and Judy Shepard in Casper.

CST's Joan Barron writes about last week's health care forum in Cheyenne

Casper Star-Tribune columnist Joan Barron was in the audience last week during the health care forum at LCCC in Cheyenne sponsored by the Wyoming Democratic Party.

She wrote about the gathering in Sunday's paper. Read "A good panel interrupted" at http://www.trib.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_0898acbb-eb31-5cd5-a32d-4eb3bf20ae65.html

I was there, and documented the sparsely attended but lively event in earlier posts.

"Games are the new form of narrative"

I attended a lecture at last week's Wyoming Humanities Conference by University of Minnesota professor and researcher Brock Dubbels. He designs classrooms that use virtual worlds and video games to improve learning. This is probably nothing new to you gamers, but Dubbels says that "games are the new form of narrative" and that games are difficult and challenging, offering "real-time all-the-time feedback -- it's all about interactivity."

Pretty much the opposite of your standard classroom, which hasn't changed much in the past 50 years.

I came out of Dubbels' talk thinking that my son Kevin and his gamer friends may represent a higher life form. And almost all of them had trouble in junior high and high school. Interactivity? Forget it. Most classrooms still are lecture-oriented. My daughter, now a junior in high school, complains that her teachers stand up in front of the room and talk. Talk, talk, talk. And when they are finished talking, it's time to write a paper or take a quiz. This may be a slight exaggeration, but I can't discount the fact that this is how it seems to her. She is 16. She loves to draw and paint and write and read and chat with pals on MySpace and take her dog for walks and play volleyball and toss the football around with me in the backyard.

None of that involves lectures, except when I'm using the "toss-the-old-football-around" occasions to slip in some parental bromides.

When I was in high school from 1965-69, it was all about lectures and taking tests and writing papers. I was designed for that sort of classroom. Sister Miriam Catherine spoke to us about Mark Twain and I dutifully took notes and spit the answers back at her via tests and "themes." Sr. Raymond and Sr. Norbert and Father Finn all taught the same way. About the only interactivity we got was in Father Finn's religion class. Every class period was the same. He chose us at random to read from the text. And then he'd call on someone else. If that person was daydreaming and had lost his/her place, there was a choice: a whack on the ass from the priest's paddle or an F for the day. Most of us chose the paddle because we were used to it. If we took an F, we might get paddled at home.

See, interactivity.

That sounds as if it happened in the Middle Ages. But it was 40-some years ago. Public school wasn't much different, except they had no penguins on the faculty. Lectures and tests. Paddling, too, on occasion.

Our lives have changed so much. Why hasn't the educational setting?

In Mr. Dubbels' Powerpoint presentation at the humanities conference, he showed an image of a maze. It illustrated the two-dimensional way that we learned how to tell stories. He then showed another maze, a huge 3-D network of stairways and passageways and dead ends. Multi-dimensional -- and definitely not linear.

My son's gamer friends are now in their mid-twenties. The ones that survived the usual drug-and-alcohol tribulations are teachers and mechanics and filmmakers and students and writers and IT guys. They still play games. They are still learning in new and different ways.

As for my high school daughter, she's learning in even newer and more different ways. She still goes to school. She still compalins about the teachers' awful tendency to drone on and on. As I'm doing right now...

Learn more about Brock Dubbels and his work at http://brockdubbels.efoliomn2.com/

Sen. Mike Enzi receives "public option" health care -- but doesn't want other Wyomingites to have it

From Think Progress (via Crooks & Liars): Rep. Weiner Identifies 55 Republicans On Medicare Who ‘Steadfastly Oppose’ The Public Option

Rep. Anthony Weiner’s (D-NY) office today released an internal study showing that 151 members of Congress “currently receive government-funded; government-administered single-payer health care — Medicare.” Of those 151 members, 55 are Republicans who also happen to be “steadfastly opposed [to] other Americans getting the public option, like the one they have chosen.” Included on Weiner’s list are anti-public option crusaders Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), and Rep. Peter King (R-NY).

Write your op-eds and take your lumps

It's usually equal parts enlightening and depressing to see the comments for an opinion column in the Casper Star-Tribune. That is the case in the comments following Kim Floyd's 10/21 op-ed piece promoting the public option in health care reform legislation. Kim is the executive secretary of the Wyoming AFL-CIO. Kim lives in Cheyenne, dresses western as a matter of course, is a union member and supports access to firearms as staunchly as he supports access to health care. He's representative of a lot of Wyoming Democrats.

That's why it's so educational to see these kind of comments following his very thoughtful op-ed piece. You can read the entire thing at http://www.trib.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_cb581fdb-d015-5ea5-a68c-fc9d10ee1e3e.html

Allen makes this comment:

Kim typical union dogma. The unions figure that gov't dr's will join the union. that will make the unions rich. Then since there will be gov't health care, the unions will dump their plans and pocket all of that money. Now we know why the unions support this massive Ponzi scheme. I bet they even are helping to write the health care bill.

Here's one from Carlito

stinky, motomouth and independent aka libral,there or no polititians on a single payor system unless they pay it themselves. All the perks an luxurys are stolen from 300+ million payors in this country.

Motomouth? Wasn't that the name of a rock group?

To be fair, there are thoughtful critics of Kim's opinions. This was posted by Guardian Angel:

Since yesterday, I thought I'd take the time to see where the true poll readings are to further enlighten yourself and others as to how the public feels as of yesterday the 22nd. Remember how the liberal democrats became somewhat "rabid" of the Bush Administrations' failure to reach across party lines - and rightly so? How quickly the liberal democrats forget (or conveniently forget) now that the House, Senate and White House belongs under their party's direction. President Obama, then candidate Obama promised to work together in a bipartisan manner. Obama, himself was quoted saying (and I quote him) "Both Parties have good ideas and we must work together..." (end quote) when presenting legislation for the American people. He went on to say that he is a "uniter and not a divider" --- what happened yesterday was bizarre when the democrats shut out the Republicans in the draft legislation session of this health care reform issue. Whether "Republican or Democrat"? This is not good at all in the area of serving the american people.

I haven't changed any spelling or punctuation. And nobody seems to want to capitalize these days anyway. But this person's comments have merit. He also goes on to quote from the polls that best represent his P.O.V.

Most important thing about all this? Write your opinions and take your lumps.

We will -- meow meow meow meow -- you!

This has been on the blogs and in the news for almost a week now. But just in case you’ve been hiding in your bunker, hunting in the Winds, or somehow cut off from all electronica – what do these songs, performers and TV characters have in common?

David Gray's Babylon, Metallica's Enter Sandman, Don McLean's American Pie, Queen's We Will Rock You, songs by REM, Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, Bruce Springsteen, and even theme tunes from Sesame Street, Barney the Dinosaur and the Meow Mix commercials.

Find the answer at http://tinyurl.com/yhb7caa

Free online college textbooks? Shazam!

Crooks & Liars explores the burgeoning world of online educational resources, especially for college students. A great option for middle-aged working people thrown out of their jobs and wanting (at long last) to get their degrees.

For more, go to http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/technology-brings-new-life-education

Why do Enzi and Barrasso hate the troops AND equal rights for gays (and Obama)?

Matthew Shepard's parents Dennis and Judy with Pres. Barack Obama, a noted humanist

WyoDems' communications director Brianna Jones sends this release:

The Wyoming Democratic Party today expressed disappointment in Senator Mike Enzi and Senator John Barrasso for their votes against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Representative Cynthia Lummis also voted against the act when it passed the House. We had hoped that Rep Lummis vote was an anomaly.

"This is a monumental day for anyone who has lived in fear of being persecuted, and we are disappointed our members of Congress refused to help combat crimes based on hatred and fear," said Brianna Jones, communications director for the Wyoming Democratic Party.

The act, which was approved by the Senate in a vote of 68-29 on Thursday, incorporates sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability into existing federal law prohibiting crimes motivated by bias against citizens belonging to a minority. The legislation will now be sent to President Obama. President Obama has already signaled his support.

The Wyoming Democratic Party applauds longtime Wyoming residents and parents of Matthew Shepard, Dennis and Judy, for their tireless campaign to pass this legislation.

The act was attached to the defense bill. So Enzi and Barrasso had to vote against the troops and against gays, although they may have believed that there are way too many "don't ask don't tell" troopers in the armed services -- so their votes made sense. To them, anyway.

Find out more at http://www.matthewshepard.org/

"How old will you be in 2050?"

A recent Grist post talked about climate change sparking a grassroots movement that will cross borders:

The prospects for a borderless protest movement will be put to the test on Saturday, selected by grassroots group 350.org as a “day of global action” with some 3,000 events around the planet. The brainchild of U.S. environmentalist Bill McKibben, 350.org takes its name from a warning issued by climate expert James Hansen, who says atmospheric concentration of CO2 must be pegged below 350 parts per million (ppm) to avoid potential catastrophe.

Levels are currently around 385 ppm and on track to bust a 450 ppm threshold previously viewed as safe.

Launched in March 2008, the Web-based network says it has nearly 200,000 activists in dozens of grassroots groups spread across 170 countries.

“It has worked beyond our wildest expectations,” McKibben told AFP. “We’ve basically got the whole world organized, much of it for the first time. Oct. 24 is going to be, by a very large margin, the most widespread day of environmental action ever.”

Two demographic profiles dominate among 350.org’s rank-and-file, McKibben said: educated youth and people linked by religion.

“I was aware of climate change but didn’t know what I could do,” Gan Pei Ling, 22, a student at Tunku Abdul Rahman University in Malaysia, said this month at climate talks in Bangkok, where she had come to lobby negotiators.

Meeting a small node of activists in Malaysia gave her the courage to speak out, and 350.org put her in touch with like-minded young people across Asia and beyond.

Gan Pei Ling and hundreds of other 20-something activists who converged on Bangkok—many sporting T-shirts asking “How Old Will You Be in 2050?”— see global warming as an injustice toward the poor and the young.

“Older people don’t seem to care,” said Lokendra Shrestha, a 28-year-old sociology student from Nepal, where vanishing glaciers threaten much of Asia’s water supply.

Nothing makes me feel older than talking to 20-somethings, such as my son and his friends. They are engaged in a global struggle for existence. They know it, and we're only beginning to understand.

How old will I be in 2050? 100. I'll be gone. My wife will be gone. All our friends and classmates will be gone.

The better question is: How old will my kids be in 2050? Seems odd to say this but my son will be 65 -- retirement age, at least that's the way we see it now. My daughter will be 57 -- just a year younger than I am now.

They will have kids and maybe grandkids by then. What will the planet be like? What will their lives be like? Will Planet Earth be a dystopia with our coastal cities inundated with rising sea levels and our high plains prairies turned to dunes? Or will we be coming to grips with our past excesses, those that we're only now beginning to understand?

I prefer the latter scenario.

What am I going to do about that today?

How old will I be in 2050?

CIGNA logo before -- and after

The image at the top is the official CIGNA logo before Sick for Profit and Ryan O'Connell got their hands on it...

The one on the bottom is an artist's version of CIGNA's soul.

Which is the most realistic?

My vote is for the leaves falling from the CIGNA tree, leaves representing those who have been denied health care.

NOTE: CIGNA is my the company I pay my premiums to.

More on Sick for Profit at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/sickforprofit?ref=nf

WyoDems: "Health care professionals address reform and the state's needs‏"

Brianna Jones, the WyoDems' communications director, just issued this release about last night's health forum:

Four Wyoming health care providers addressed the health insurance reform proposals going through Congress, their experiences as health care providers, the state of health care in Wyoming and what reforms the state needs during a panel discussion in Cheyenne on Tuesday.

Dr. Brent Sherard, Wyoming Department of Health director and state health officer; Lorraine Saulino-Klein, RN; Mary Forrester, RN Family Nurse Practitioner; and Lance Proctor, MD; sat on the panel, which was sponsored by the Wyoming Democratic Party and the Laramie County Democratic Party.

An audience member asked where Wyoming would be in ten years if nothing is done and Dr. Sherard candidly answered that there will be a “substantial over expenditure in our budget.” He pointed to concerns about funding our health care with natural gas and said Wyoming needs to look at ways to diversify the economy. Dr. Sherard brought attention to the need to build infrastructure to better serve the larger pool of patients that will come with universal coverage.

He also spoke about the need for increased transparency. “People cannot evaluate what they are getting for their healthcare dollars,” explained Sherard. “There is no mechanism or vehicle to evaluate your health care provider.”

Both Mary Forrester and Lorraine Saulino-Klein stressed the problems that arise when patients neglect serious conditions because they do not have insurance and cannot afford care.

“We pay two times as much for our health care than other developed countries and have inferior outcomes,” said Lorraine Saulino-Klein.

There was consensus from the panel that a stronger push for preventative medicine is essential. Dr. Proctor said, “There needs to be incentives to have a healthier population so that we pay more for quality than quantity.”

Please direct questions to Brianna Jones (752-5288) or to panel members at
the following numbers:
Dr. Brent Sherard: 777-6778
Dr. Lance Proctor: 760-2012
Lorraine Saulino-Klein: 742-5107
Mary Forrester: 742-5202

Cheyenne health care forum: H1N1 vaccine

Dr. Brent Sherard, the state's chief medical officer, spoke last night about another big issue that I forgot to mention.

Before the forum's major interruption, Mike Bell asked Dr. Sherard about certain rumors circulating on the web and on at least one major media outlet (guess which one?) that the H1N1 (swine flu) virus is tainted and people should avoid it.

He dismissed the rumors. It's perfectly safe, he said, and noted that the vaccine was the result of lots of work and plenty of oversight. "I've worked in government for eight-and-one-half years," he said. "You spend a lot of time soliciting opinions and getting input for something that's good for the majority. And then you formulate a plan."

Although he only implied it -- this is also why it's taking so long to distribute the vaccine. All this cogitation takes time. Laramie County Health Department has received some H1N1 vaccine and expects a lot more. Meanwhile, it's running short of the seasonal flu vaccine because citizens like me have come in for their shots. One flu shot is better than no flu shot -- that may be the way people are viewing this. I've been getting a seasonal flu shot for 15 years and only got the flu once. That was two years ago, I think, when government planners distributed a flu vaccine that didn't cover all the strains circulating that year. The flu kept me out of work for a week. But it might have been worse had I not had the shot.

That was the fall of 2007. Come to think of it, that was right about the time that I began to take Barack Obama seriously as a presidential candidate. I wasn't on board yet, but something about Obama got my attention for the first time. I liked the cut of his jib, the content of his speeches.

Could the strange flu vaccine of ought-seven have been doctored to be Obama-friendly? But why would Bush Administration health officials hatch such a plan? Perhaps they didn't take Obama seriously and they thought if more of us got on his bandwagon, fewer of us would join Hillary Clinton's campaign express. Hillary was No. 1. She was the real threat, after all, not some newly-elected African-American Senator from Illinois with the very off-putting name (for patriots anyway) of Barack Hussein Obama.

Genius, I tell you. Sheer genius!

P.S.: For the truth about H1N1 and the vaccine, visit http://webgate.co.laramie.wy.us/_departments/_health/swine_flu.asp. The CDC reports on its web site that 11,400 units of H1N1 vaccine have been issued to various locales in Wyoming (as of 10/16/09).

Health Care Forum tip: consider your retorts carefully

When I say "teabagger," I'm referring to the prog-blog meaning of the word. A handy label for people who attend local and national anti-Obama tea party rallies, such as the ones organized and energized by Glenn Beck and Fixed News on Sept. 12. Those shouting crazies who disrupt town hall meetings. The fuming bearers of misspelled signs.

To some, though, "teabagger" refers to a sex act described and/or pictured on a variety of non-political blogs and web sites.

I should have considered my words more carefully when I called The Woman In The Back Row (hereafter referred to as TWITBR) "a teabagger."

But that was later. When she arrived, she trotted out all the lines from the Glenn Beck Playbook. Her first non-question to Tuesday night's health reform panel organized by the Democratic Party was about tort reform. Uh oh. A Republican talking point. The panel took a shot at the answer. Yes, tort reform was important but not crucial. The next panelist talked. TWITBR spoke again. This time she had a litany of complaints. All alternative opinions in the national health care debate are being shut out. "I don't appreciate the secrecy," she said. Process at the federal level is asking for failure because it's terrifying to people." People don't want decision made by a one-sided process. And so on.

Mike Bell, vice chair of the Wyoming Democrats and the evening's moderator, asked her to to specific and maybe ask a real question.

She then reeled out some statistics, saying that 51 percent of the American people don't like the health care public option.

Me: "57 percent of the American people want the public option. The survey was just on the evening news"

Mike: "More like 65 percent."

She disputed our figures. I said she could look it up. She said she did look it up and said our statistics were wrong.

Then I asked the fateful question: "Are you a teabagger?" She was showing all the symptoms. I should have referred her to one of the physicians on the panel.

"What?" she yelled. Her eyes bugged out.

I turned back to the panel, hoping that the informative talk could resume.

Next thing I know, TWITBR was beside me yelling "Asshole!"

I turned. She was fuming. "You know what a teabagger is?"

"Yeah," I said, "a conservative who yells at town hall meetings."

"You know what a teabagger is?"

I knew what she was getting at. But I was het up now in the tradition of my Irish ancestors. "Teabaggers go to tea parties."

"Asshole," she said again. I felt the calming hand of a fellow Democrat on my shoulder, some murmuring in the crowd. Mike came over to referee.

TWITBR then described the teabagger sex act.

"It has nothing to do with that."

She fumed some more. Calming Democratic voices could be heard but the room was red. "Idiot," she said.

"You're the idot," I said, adult-like.

She stomped away grumbling. I think I heard "asshole" again. Gary's calming hand was still on my shoulder. He's a teacher -- he knows how to calm feuding factions.

The woman in the back row stomped to the door. She said something bad about stupid Democrats and how they couldn't even get a crowd out for this event. She was correct on the attendance -- only 16 people in the audience.

And then there were 15.

"Go talk to Lummis." This was my parting shot, referring to ultra-conservative Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis.

Mike told me to cool it for the second time. And I found myself turning red as those remaining in their seats tried not to stare at me.

Rep. Pete Jorgensen from Jackson went up to the podium in an effort to get us back on track. Steam was still coming out of my ears so I didn't hear most of it. He talked about controlling costs and gave grudging praise to Mitt Romney's successes with that in Massachusetts. He then noted that "75 percent of critical care for people of Wyoming is done outside the state." That's a fact of life in a rural state that has neighboring cities such as Denver and Salt Lake City and Billings with excellent medical facilities.

Not even critical care. I chose to go to Fort Collins tomorrow for a root canal. F.C. has dental surgeons and Cheyenne doesn't. Most people I know go to Fort Collins doctors and choose hospitals there and in Denver for their critical care. Coloradans sometimes make the trip to Cheyenne. But most of them are veterans seeking care at our excellent V.A. Hospital.

The rest of the evening was interesting yet anticlimactic. The panelists, whose names I haven't even mentioned, were Mary Forrester, a family nurse practitioner from Laramie; Lorraine Saulino-Klein, a registered nurse from Laramie; Dr. Brent Sherard, head of the Wyoming Health department and the state's chief medical officer; and Dr. Lance Proctor, an anaesthesiologist from Laramie.

The event was organized by Brianna Jones, public information officer for the Wyoming Democrats. The Democratic National Committee had encouraged each state to hold forums on Oct. 20 to push harder for real health care reform.

Dr. Sherard talked at length about Medicaid. About 14-15 percent of the state's population is uninsured.

That's 75,000-80,000. About 75,000 people in Wyoming are on Medicaid. That adds up (at most) to to 160,000. The rest (370,000), he said, have some kind of health insurance.

If some sort of public option were instituted for the uninsured (as Obama has proposed), Dr Sherard said he's not sure "who will take care of them until we get the infrastructure in place." The state's Medicaid program, funded by state and federal dollars, is stressed.

He also talked about prevention. If it was instituted in the correct way, it would save money and lives. Said Dr. Sherard: "Beware of facts by health care economists who say that prevention will not save a dime."

That's one of the problems with this health care conundrum. Whom do you believe? Which set of facts by which expert do you work with? You have to do some homework. That goes for teabaggers and pinko liberal bloggers alike.

Dr. Sherard, formerly a family physician in Wheatland, volunteers at the Cheyenne Free Clinic.

Mary Forrester volunteers at the downtown free clinic in Laramie. The clinic is only open one night a week and is "very busy." It only serves people "with absolutely no insurance."

"At the clinic, there are so many of them that are working but have nowhere else to go," said Forrester. Their employees may have cut coverage or never had it. Some people aren't able to work. And some have just made some bad choices or lived through bad times.

The clinic works on volunteers and donated money. It accepts no government funding.

Forrester is a firm believer in universal coverage. "This is the only way we can cut down costs and reduce unnecessary suffering."

Dr. Proctor says that it's "embarrassing that the U.S. has no universal health care." He wants us to "eliminate the middle man and pool our money and use that to do good by providing the infrastructure we need for health care."

The doctor is originally from Texas. As a specialist, he's the rare Democrat. "95 percent of my colleagues are Republicans," he said. "They think I'm crazy. But most of their opposition is based on fear." Doctors spend so many years in school and interning and residency and starting a practice "that they're afraid of losing what they've worked hard for."

He advocates a compromise by creating a public trust. This should calm the fears and create a better system, he said.

"For health care, we pay two-and-one-half times in the U.S. compared to other western countries," said Lorraine Saulino-Klein. Republicans usually scoff at health care in Canada and other western democracies. They contend that care is rationed and that people have to wait for months for surgical procedures.

"It takes me three months to get a mammogram in Laramie," she said. "Don't believe the scare tactics." She wants to see the regulation of drug and insrance companies. "If that doesn't work, do a public option," she said.

She noted that scare tactics again enter the equation with the mention of "public option." Critics decry the "government takeover of health care" and 'socialized medicine." She had some fun with this: "You know how many people are dropping out of Medicare. They're the most satisfied people in the country."

The forum broke up at 9 p.m. A fine time was had by all. Well, almost everyone.

It's possible I may encounter TWITBR at this Thursday's 7 p.m. health care forum at the Laramie County Public Library. This forum will feature staffers from the offices of Rep. Lummis and Wyoming Senators Barrasso and Enzi. They're all Republicans. It will be a partisan crowd. Enzi is one of the Senate Finance Committee's "Gang of Six." The term "public option" will be mentioned only in jest. Teabaggery won't be mentioned but patriotism will be. Over and over and over again.

Noah: "This ark ain't gonna float if we have to put one more pair of dinos on it"

The new 20,000-square-foot Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum in Montana includes sculptures of T-Rex skeletons, murals of ancient mountains and a diorama of dinosaurs walking two-by-two into Noah’s Ark.

Yes, just when you thought it was safe to venture back to eastern Montana, a creationist museum opens up.

Glendive, known to some as the crossroads of east-central Montana, and to others as the only town on I-94 in Montana east of Billings to have three exits, opened its new museum this summer.

Donna Healy wrote about it in Sunday’s Billings Gazette. It sounds like an educational and amusing place:

Displays on the Glendive museum's second floor, which rings the central exhibit space like a gallery, are geared toward refuting evolutionary theory.

A large case contains a diorama of Noah's ark, built on a scale meant to represent an ark of 300 cubits, or 450 feet. Miniature animals and dinosaurs move two-by-two into the ark.

Glendive is dinosaur dig country. Many of the skeletons at the museum are modeled after those found in the vicinity. It's also the site of Makoshika State Park in the Hell Creek Formation that has yielded major dinosaur finds, and the nonprofit Makoshika Dinosaur Museum, which opened in 2004 in a renovated downtown building.

Both the state park and the Makoshika Dinosaur Museum are on the Montana Dinosaur Trail, a nonprofit created in 2005 to promote tourism at affiliated museums and dig sites.

Otis E. Kline Jr., founder and director of the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum, attended some early meetings of the Dinosaur Trail group, he said. But he left the organization when the group adopted the slogan "150 million years in the making."

Kline doesn’t say this, but he probably would have preferred something like "6,000 years of ignorance – and counting."

The Montana museum joins two other creation-based dino museums in the U.S. – one in Kentucky and one in San Diego. They now are drawing dangerously close to Wyoming. While most Wyomingites are known for their pragmatism and live-and-let-live attitudes, the state also home to scores of dinosaur digs and lots of space for kooky museums. There also has been an alarming rise in fundamentalist activity.

We’ll let a member of the reality-based scientific community have the last word. Jack Horner, the curator of paleontology at the reality-based Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, says that there is a fundamental difference between his museum and the one in Glendive.

"It's not a science museum at all," Horner said. "It's not a pseudo-science museum. It's just not science. …There's nothing scientific about it."

Blessed are the meek with pre-existing conditions -- insurers love you!

http://twitpic.com/m33zz (thanks to almightygod on Twitter)

You couldn't pay me to read Palin's book

Doc2 on Daily Kos wonders how far prices will drop before Sarah Palin's book, "Going Rogue," actually hits the stands Nov. 17.

The listed retail price for a handcover copy of "Going Rogue" is $28.99.

According to doc2, here are the bargain prices:

Borders: $17.39.
Barnes and Noble: member price $15.65.
Amazon.com: $9.00 (plus free shipping!)
Wal-Mart: while supplies last, $8.99

At this rate, the publisher will be paying us to read it. I'm not sure if "Going Rogue" is drivel. Just pretty sure.

Read kossack doc2's post at http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/10/19/794828/-Going-Rogue-going-for-peanuts

Wyoming MoveOn supporter to Sen. Hatch: I dare you to kick my teeth in

Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah is going to kick MoveOn.org in the teeth. MoveOn members picketed his D.C. office to protest the fact that he has sold his everlasting soul to the health insurance industry.

Sen. Hatch must be mature enough to know that he's too old to kick anyone in the teeth, let alone a bunch of organic-food-eating, latte-swilling, mountain-biking activists from Blue States. Blue Staters are in much better shape than Red Staters, younger too, and a lot better educated. They may not be as mean as the Repubs, but they are wiry and crafty. They float like butterflies, sting like bees.

This comes from Crooks & Liars:

Seems Orrin Hatch is not taking to kindly to having his office protested by MoveOn.org for being in the pocket of the health care industry. I've got to wonder, how would the Republicans react if a Democratic member of the Senate went on television and said they'd like to kick those Tea Bag protesters in the teeth?

Hatch: Now by the way MoveOn.org is a scurrilous organization. It's funded by George Soros. He's about as left wing as you can find in this country. And they're up to just one thing, and that is to smear good people. And frankly, they're not gonna smear me without getting kicked in the teeth by me.

Stay classy there Hatch. While MoveOn has received $1.46 million from George Soros as Wikipedia notes:

MoveOn's primary source of funding is its members. MoveOn.org raised nearly 60 million dollars in 2004 from its members alone, with an average donation of $50.

Yes, I live in a Red State but have contributed my share to MoveOn -- probably right around $50. Now that I've made that public, I suppose that Sen. Hatch will drive his Ford Expedition down I-80 from Provo to Cheyenne and kick my teeth in. Yeah, him and what army?

Remember Sen. Hatch's inspiring words at Sen. Ted Kennedy's funeral? They were long-time BFFs, at least that's the way it sounded. He was honoring Kennedy's legacy then and now seems to have forgotten it.

Your BFF from those good ol' days in the U.S. Senate would be ashamed of you now.

Read my lips: Public option!

The health care reform debate or argument or shouting match -- whatever you want to call it -- is heating up. On the local scene, health care professionals will gather at the Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne for a panel discussion.

It will take place in the college's Centennial Room 130 on Tuesday, October 20, at 7 p.m.

Participants will include Dr. Brent Sherard, Wyoming Department of Health director and state health officer; Lorraine Saulino-Klein, Registered Nurse; Mary Forrester, Family Nurse Practitioner; and others.

This is a chance for Wyomingites to hear from professionals in the health care field speak first-hand about what reform means to them.

"No one knows more about the urgent need for health insurance reform than those who work within the health care system every day," said Wyoming Democratic Party Executive Director Bill Luckett in a press release. "It is important that we have the opportunity to hear their perspective."

Mike Bell, Vice Chair of the Wyoming Democratic Party, will serve as moderator. The Laramie County Democrats encourage everyone of all political stripes to attend and participate. You can attend even if you're not striped. A Q&A will follow the panel discussion.

Why should anyone anywhere ever listen to anything said by a Cheney?

Some Wyomingites defend Dick Cheney because they knew him in Casper or met him during his stint in the state legislature. This is a pretty chummy state, after all, which more antelope than people. If you alienate your neighbor, you just might not have anyone to talk to all winter. You could end up standing next to Dick or Lynne Cheney at an event at University of Wyoming or at some Republican fund-raiser in Jackson. Not me, of course, as I rarely go to
Jackson and never go to Republican fund-raisers -- can't even afford the admission fee.

I have met neither Dick or Lynne. I know people in Casper who know them. I once came very close to V.P. Cheney when his motorcade zoomed from my neighborhood airport to the state legislature. The speech was broadcast to the multitudes. We were all suitably impressed.

Dick made a big deal of speaking his mind in the months following Pres. Obama's inaguaration. He's been quiet, of late.

But the same can't be said of his daughter Liz.

Liz, I think, was born in Wyoming. But she's lived most of her life inside the Beltway. She's been bust lately promoting a new group opposed to the "radical" foreign policy of the Obama administration, says Politico.com. The group is called Keep America Safe, or KAS. She's have work on that abbreviation to make it an acronym.

From Politico:

“The policies being proposed by the Obama administration are so radical across the board,” Cheney said. “Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, you want the nation to be strong and so many steps this president is taking are making the nation weaker.”

Keep America Safe will focus on issues like troop levels, missile defense, detainees, and interrogation, according to Liz Cheney, who is heading the group along with Weekly Standard editor William Kristol and Debra Burlingame, the hawkish sister of an American Airlines pilot killed in the September 11 attacks.

The group, incorporated as a 501 (c ) 4 non-profit, launches its fundraising drive online Tuesday with a web video accusing Obama of failing to back up his “tough talk” and with a website aimed to provide an organizing tool for hawks.

I shall give as much credence to Liz Cheney as I did to her father. Hardly any at all...

Dear CIGNA CEO: Why are you afraid to meet with Dawn?

CIGNA, my health insurance company, is waiting to hear from you.

Go to its Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/CIGNAeducation/.

Ask CIGNA CEO H. Edward Hanway why he has two gold umbrella stands in his $24 million mansion but he won't sit down and talk to Dawn Smith, the woman his company denied care to.

Go on. It's fun.

Power outage shuts down Cheyenne

Power went out around town today just as I was returning from lunch.

No power at work. Traffic lights out. Called my wife on the cell and no power on the east side of town. Called my daughter, home from school for a teacher planning day, and she was adrift in a house with no PC or TV or microwave. One of my colleagues got a cell call that power was out at the Air Force base and in the rural eastern part of the county.

Very odd.

It was very hard to get news about the outage. Two of my colleagues have Blackberries with Internet access but they came up with nothing. We have a battery-powered radio but no batteries. Our battery-powered weather radio was no help.

I could have gone to my car and powered up the local AM station. But it was parked three blocks away -- three long blocks away. Label me "L" for lazy.

Wondered what might happen if this was a real emergency.

A few minutes ago, found this report on the Casper Star-Tribune site:

Power began to flicker back on throughout Cheyenne at 2:13 p.m. after an extended citywide power outage this afternoon.

The Western Area Power Administration transmission line serving Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power went down at approximately 12:50 p.m. today, according to Mark Stege, vice president of operations for Cheyenne Light.

At the request of WAPA, Cheyenne Light dispatched crews to the Archer substation, about 10 miles east of the city, to investigate the outage.

Stege said that the system-wide outage affected 36,000 of their 39,000 customers.

A media release said earlier in the day, Cheyenne Light also experienced sporadic outages around the city due to weather conditions and ice on the lines. Crews will continue working throughout the evening to monitor the situation.

Wilkerson said he didn't know if other parts of WAPA's coverage area were affected. WAPA, operated by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, delivers hydroelectric power to parts of Wyoming and 14 other Western states.

The power outage shut down much the city during Tuesday's lunch hour. Cheyenne police directed traffic through busy downtown intersections, and many businesses closed temporarily.

The West's gazillionaires, billionaires and pikers

David Frey writes in New West about the Rocky Mountain region's richest people, at least according to Forbes Magazine. I'm a bit ashamed of Wyoming's lack of gazillionaires. True, there is at least one high roller in Jackson. Make that a family of high rollers: Christy Walton of Wal-Mart fame and her family. They're No. 4 on the list with $21.5 billion.

I have helped make Wal-Mart the powerhouse that it is today. Yes, I shop locally when I can. But it's tough to be a purist when you have only so much money to spend and the 24-roll Super-Ultra-Soft packs of toilet paper are on sale.

The Walton family presence in Jackson may also explain why Wal-Mart has upped its contributions to local causes in Wyoming. While there is no Wal-Mart in Jackson, there are two in Casper -- one on the east side and one on the west. With all those eager shoppers sandwiched in-between.

Here's Mr. Frey's take on the richy-rich of WYO:

If Wyoming’s three richest families decided to boost the economy by giving all their money to fellow Cowboy State residents, each resident of Wyoming would walk away with $44,493. That gives Wyoming the biggest chunk of billionaire dollars per capita in the country, according to Forbes magazine’s latest list of 400 wealthiest people in America.

It helps that Wyoming’s sparse population makes the state better known for wide-open spaces than urban squalor. It also helps that Wyoming is home to the richest family in the West. Making Forbes’ list at No. 4 is Christy Walton and family, who have brought their $21.5 billion Wal-Mart fortune to Jackson, making them the wealthiest Westerners.

Two other billionaires call Wyoming home. Squeaking in at the bottom of the Forbes list are Conair’s Leandro Rizzuto, of Sheridan, with $1.2 billion, and TD Ameritrade’s J. Joseph Ricketts, of Little Jackson Hole, with a meager $1 billion. Combined, they add up to $23.7 billion.

Philip Anschutz is the richest of all in Colorado, coming in at No. 37 with $6 billion. Rumor has it that he's currently trying to buy up the rest of the West to put in wind turbines that will supply endless power to his ego.

Almost all the interior West states claim at least one billionaire. Except for Utah and New Mexico. That's a darn shame. But Frey sees a bright side:

As long as there’s a Santa Fe and a Park City, they’ll still come to visit.

Render unto the city that which is the city's, and to heck with the county

Latest local issue is whether rural residents, those people who moved to unincorporated Laramie County so they wouldn't have to pay for city services, should be able to vote in city elections.

My immediate response was, "You're kidding, right?"

This issue arose out of the City Council's cellphone ban. Soon, an ordinance goes into effect that allows cops to ticket those who drive under the influence of cellphone (DUIC). That's only the hand-held variety. Motorists can buy headsets and talk to their cutomers or family members or BFFs 'til the cows come home to their rural ranchettes.

A country resident who owns a business in the city, M. Lee Hasenauer, grew restive under the restrictions and began a petition drive to overturn it. He collected a bunch of signatures and the Cheyenne City Clerk's office is going through them to see if there are at least 2,802 valid ones to hold a special election on the issue. The odd thing is, all petitioners must be city residents and the election would be held by the city. So rural residents, including Mr. Hasenauer, won't be allowed to vote. He believes that he and other county residents who own businesses in the city should be allowed to vote in its elections.

That's where the legislature comes in. It would have to change the laws to allow voters living outside a certain jurisdiction to vote there.

So, Mr. Hasenauer got busy and arranged a meeting with the Laramie County Commission that will include Rep. Tony Ross and Sen. Pete Illoway. According to yesterday's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, "the meeting is listed in the county commission's weekly schedule as 'city elections open to county.' "

Kudos go to any citizen who who gets involved, no matter the issue. You have to hand it to Mr. H -- he's made strides on this issue in a short amount of time. Even if he's shot down on this, I would encourage him to continue his civic engagement and extend it to volunteering at the YMCA, organizing food drives for the Comea Shelter and mentoring budding entrepreneurs at Triumph High School -- the school for kids who've gone astray and need a hand up.

But that's not what this is about, is it? It's about power, as is the case with most things. Mr. H lives in the county but wants to tell the city what to do. I wonder what he and his neighbors did the last time the city announced a county annexation? Much wailing and gnashing of teeth. County residents go apoplectic when annexation is even mentioned. Yet, these same people also benefit from the core city that is the home of a fantastic county library, courtesy of a countywide sixth-penny tax ballot; the Civic Center; all of the Cheyenne Frontier Days events; Cheyenne Symphony; Cheyenne Little Theatre Players; YMCA and fitness clubs; all of the county's secondary schools; restaurants and bars (even a new martini bar); etc.

I know that county residents patronize and contribute to all these organizations and businesses. When you county folks buy groceries at Wal-Mart on Dell Range, your sales taxes come back to you -- two cents of every six-cent tax goes to the county and four cents to the state. The city does not tax you for your trip from the county wilderness into the big city. In fact, city businesses welcome your expenditures which go to pay salaries, money that is spent in Cheyenne (and often in Fort Collins and Denver). Apparently, one of those businesses belongs to Mr. H.

My advice to county residents? If you want to be involved with your city, then do it. But don't dream up some non-issue to try to change the laws. We welcome your involvement. If that's not your cup of tea, then we'll let you take care of the prairie dogs and we'll take care of the symphony and the library and the post office and the state museum and Depot Plaza and....

Lummis shames Wyoming -- again

From the Wyoming Democratic Party:

The Wyoming Democratic Party said today that they are ashamed that Representative Cynthia Lummis voted against the Matthew Shepherd Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

"It is extremely disheartening to see that our lone Representative has taken a stand
against such a deeply personal issue to the people of Wyoming," commented Brianna Jones, Communications Director. "Eleven years ago we were mortified by the murder of Matthew Shephard; today we are equally embarrassed that Rep Lummis did not stand up to help prevent and punish future crimes of this hateful nature," said Jones.

The act, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday, would include sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability to existing federal law prohibiting crimes motivated by bias against citizens belonging to a minority. The
legislation will now move to the Senate, and if passed, be sent to President Obama. President Obama has already signaled his support for the legislation.

The Wyoming Democratic Party urges Senator Mike Enzi and Senator John Barrasso to vote in favor of the Matthew Shephard Act. "This important piece of legislation has been languishing for over ten years and we are hopeful our Senators will recognize that those at the heart of this act deserve to be equally protected by the laws of this nation," added Jones.

Democrats: Think for yourself, Wyomingites!

Reuters lands in Wyoming to report on natural gas polluting water wells

Jon Hurdle reported this in an Oct. 1 Reuters story:

PAVILLION, Wyoming - Louis Meeks, a burly 59-year-old alfalfa farmer, fills a metal trough with water from his well and watches an oily sheen form on the surface which gives off a faint odor of paint.

He points to small bubbles that appear in the water, and a thin ring of foam around the edge. Meeks is convinced that energy companies drilling for natural gas in this central Wyoming farming community have poisoned his water and ruined his health.

A recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency suggests he just might have a case -- and that the multi-billion dollar industry may have a problem on its hands. EPA tests found his well contained what it termed 14 "contaminants of concern."

It tested 39 wells in the Pavillion area this year, and said in August that 11 were contaminated. The agency did not identify the cause but said gas drilling was a
possibility.

What's happened to the water supply in Pavillion could have repercussions for the nation's energy policies. As a clean-burning fuel with giant reserves in the United States, natural gas is central to plans for reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

Entire article reprinted from Reuters at http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/10/01-8

How much of our money do health insurance execs need want desire?

True Majority wants support in its campaign to fire greedy CEOs. Latest target is the CIGNA CEO, Ed Hanway. I'm all in favor of this, as some of my hard-earned income goes toward Mr. Hanway's purchase of solid gold umbrella stands and other assorted necessities.

Here's the post from True Majority:

To launch this campaign, Stacie Ritter went to confront Cigna CEO Ed Hanway at his Philadelphia mansion. Stacie's twin daughters got cancer when they were just 4 years old, but Cigna is denying them access to a critical drug they need.

So Stacie went right to his front door to demand the medicine her kids need, and deliver a message from other Americans like us that we're sick of Big Insurance pushing us around.

Ed Hanway declined to see Stacie, just like his company is declining to take care of her kids. But Stacie's not giving up, and neither can we.

Next week, we're planning more events with Stacie and other patients that challenge even more CEOs at Big Insurance corporations. Can you help make sure we've got the resources to pull it off? Chip in $35 to support this effort right now.

Go to https://secure.truemajority.org/o/2/p/7002/tma_defaultdonate_page_KEY=128

I know that sometimes it seems like we're tilting at windmills, but the resignation of [Bank of America CEO] Ken Lewis reminds us that if we keep at it, our voices CAN be heard.

Great moments at The Literary Connection

The Literary Connection was held Friday and Saturday at LCCC in Cheyenne. Too lazy to do an actual story about the event so will delve into my notes for some great quotes:

"Writing is an exercise in longing" Quote by Isabel Allende which Laura Pritchett has on her PC.

Laura Prichett: "Every single piece of fiction I've written is set in northern Colorado and Wyoming. Those places are part of my soul."

Pam Houston: "Writing is about surrender to the metaphor. Not wresting control of it but surrender. We have to keep learning this over and over again."

"I'm a sharp observer," said Houston, author of "Cowboys are My Weakness." "I take things and put them together with other remarkable things and make a new thing. I'm like a collagist. I spend a whole lot of time creating raw material and then a lot of time on placement. Everything is moveable."

Michelle Obama: "The arts are at the heart of our national life"

Last week, First Lady Michelle Obama served as host for a concert at the Pittsburgh Creative & Performing Arts School for its students and the spouses of leaders attending the G-20 economic summit. She delivered a sppech about the importance of arts as a prelude to performances by Sara Bareilles, Yo-Yo Ma and Trisha Yearwood.

Excerpts from her speech (from a White House transcript, reprinted in the Sept. 25 L.A. Times):

"We believe strongly that the arts aren't somehow an 'extra’ part of our national life, but instead we feel that the arts are at the heart of our national life. It is through our music, our literature, our art, drama and dance that we tell the story of our past and we express our hopes for the future. Our artists challenge our assumptions in ways that many cannot and do not. They expand our understandings, and push us to view our world in new and very unexpected ways…..

"It's through this constant exchange -- this process of taking and giving, this process of borrowing and creating -- that we learn from each other and we inspire each other. It is a form of diplomacy in which we can all take part….

A great message to an audience from all over the world. Let's hope U.S. leaders also were listening.

Wyoming: health insurance premiums up 129 percent during past 8 years

We don't need no stinkin' health care reform!

Right....

Mike Bell, vice chairman of the Wyoming Democratic Party, wrote a fine guest editorial about health care for Sunday's Casper Star-Tribune. Here's a sampling:

Over the past eight years in Wyoming, health insurance premiums increased by 129 percent, bringing Wyoming to an average family policy that now costs over $13,500 a year. Alternately, wages in Wyoming rose a paltry 37 percent over the same period.

To read the rest, go to http://www.trib.com/news/editorial/forum/article_7303a04e-dfb2-556d-9905-46e4036b02db.html or http://www.wyomingdemocrats.com/