Wyoming Democrats urge focus on health care reform goals

From Brianna Jones, communications director of the Wyoming Democratic Party:

As the debate over health insurance reform becomes increasingly distorted, the Wyoming Democratic Party urges people to focus on the facts about President Obama’s goals for reform.

“President Obama has always been clear that his three principles for reform are: lowering costs, guaranteeing choice and ensuring all Americans have access to quality, affordable care,” said Brianna Jones, Communications Director of the Wyoming Democratic Party. “President Obama remains committed to signing legislation that includes those three principles.”

Under President Obama’s Health Insurance Reform guarantees, everyone will benefit, even people who currently have insurance, because any legislation he signs will include these eight iron clad guarantees - guarantees which will reverse years of unfair insurance company practices:

1. No discrimination for pre-existing conditions,
2. No exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles, or co-pays,
3. No cost-sharing for preventive care
4. No dropping of coverage for the seriously ill,
5. No gender discrimination,
6. No annual or lifetime caps on coverage,
7. Extended coverage for young adults, and
8. Guaranteed insurance renewal.

“Health insurance reform will benefit every American and will hold insurance companies accountable and end their unfair practices,” Jones stated. “Everyone will benefit from the eight health insurance guarantees, whether you already have insurance or are one of the 47 million Americans – and the 72,566 Wyoming residents – without coverage.”

Jones said that there is a clear urgency for reform. Premiums continue to rise and more citizens and small businesses have to ask themselves if they can continue to pay for health coverage that they desperately need, she said.

Howard Dean urges individual action in health care reform fight

Governor Howard Dean, M.D., wrote this e-mail message to me and thousands of my closest friends:

Here's what I know: When we work together, we're unstoppable.

As my brother Jim said yesterday, the media has it wrong. The campaign for the choice of a public health insurance option will be over only if we quit or we've won. That decision is ours to make. Not the media's decision -- Not the insurance industry's decision -- It's our decision. We have the power and we're going to win.

Make no mistake, victory won't happen overnight. Just like President Obama's campaign for President, this campaign is a long haul. Congress returns in September for the final stretch to pass reform by the end of the year. We must have the resources to fuel this fight. If we raise $200,000 by Monday, we can hit back immediately. Congress will know we're not backing down in the face of pressure.

We're standing up to get the job done. CONTRIBUTE RIGHT NOW AND DELIVER THE RESOURCES TO WIN

Victory takes courage, conviction, and commitment. It takes you. The power to change America is in your hands. It always has been.

Sen. Enzi: If public option in health care plan, I'll hold my breath until I turn blue

Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi, one of Montana Sen. Max Baucus's "Gang of Six," told the Casper Rotary Club today that he remains opposed to any public option in Pres. Obama's health care reform plans.

"As I've said from the beginning, a government-run option is not an option. I voted against the Democrat plan in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee last month and would do so again," Enzi said. "A government-run plan would increase health care costs, lessen service and add to our huge debt. The American people are doing a great job of getting this message across to the Administration and Congress.”

Enzi's been pushing his own 10-point plan for months. As you might guess, it's more of the same stuff we've heard from other Repubs -- and (unfortunately) some Dems.

Without a public option, there is no health care reform.

Who's been giving Wyo. Repubs a bum steer?

Wyomingites in Worland listen to Sen. John Barrasso explain why a physician is against affordable health care for all. Or maybe he's talking about fishing. Notice that there are no shouting wingnuts with indecipherable signs. It's good to be a Repub in Wyoming!

O.K., which one of you Dems is responsible for misleading Wyoming Republicans?

This press release appeared on both Sen. Mike Enzi's and Sen. John Barrasso's web sites. I'm puzzled buy it, but maybe one of my loyal readers can clear up "The Mystery of the Misleading Missives?" This release is from Sen. Barrasso's site:

U.S. Senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, both R-Wyo., are urging constituents who want to meet with them or their staff to contact their offices directly and to read the fine print if anyone else is promising meetings with them.

A recent campaign by the Democratic National Committee has caused confusion for constituents who were under the impression a Web site could schedule meetings with Senator Enzi or Senator Barrasso. Drop-bys are always welcome during staff hours but meetings must be scheduled in advance directly through the senator’s offices, not through the Democratic National Committee or the Republican National Committee Web sites, according to the senators.

“I have five offices around Wyoming and one office in Washington to ensure myself and my staff are available to my constituents. I encourage people to contact me with their concerns and ideas and I don’t want anyone’s message to be lost because they were misled by a political Web site,” said Enzi.

“The Democratic National Committee is misleading people concerned about health care. People want to be involved in the health care debate. They have questions and they want their voice to be heard. It is unacceptable for a political group to send out fraudulent or misleading emails,” Barrasso said. “Giving people fake meetings is not how we treat people in Wyoming. There are a number of ways to get in touch with me – I’m holding meetings all across the state. On Friday, I had a town hall meeting in Worland. You can stop by or call any of my offices in Casper, Cheyenne, Riverton, Rock Springs or Sheridan. You can also go to my Web site, Barrasso.Senate.Gov, to e-mail me, or call toll free 1-866-235-9553.”

Laramie County Democrats meet Aug. 25

The next meeting of the Laramie County Democrats will be Tuesday, Aug. 25, 7 p.m., at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Hall, 810 Fremont Ave., Cheyenne. To view the agenda, go to the LarCoDems web site at http://www.laramiecountydemocrats.org/.

All are welcome.

Sunday afternoon in Wyoming

Note prog-blogger union member in foreground, ripening Victory Garden tomatoes in background.

On the ground in Montana and Colorado

A compendium of posts from prog-bloggers about Pres. Obama's stops in Montana and Colorado:

"On the ground in Belgrade:" guest post by Cynthia Wolken on 4&20 blackbirds at http://4and20blackbirds.wordpress.com/2009/08/15/on-the-ground-in-belgrade-a-guest-post/

On Daily Kos, Kossack laborlou talks about the body language of Montana Democrats' Gov. Schweitzer and Sens. Tester and Baucus at Obama's town meeting. Go to http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/8/15/767386/-Top-Ticket-Democrats-Judging-Obama

CU student Zach Lahn, who was praised by Obama in Grand Junction for having the guts to challenge the prez to a debate, is in reality a staffer for right-wing Colorado State Senator Greg Brophy. Go to http://www.coloradopols.com/diary/10079/sen-brophys-aide-gets-press-for-student-obama-debate-challenge

Photos of Obama family in Wyoming

TOP PHOTO: President Barack Obama, wife Michelle Obama, and daughters Malia Obama, 11, and Sasha Obama, 8, look at the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon). BOTTOM PHOTO: Park Ranger Katy Duffy guides Pres. Barack Obama and family around Old Faithful geyser during Saturday's visit. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).

See more photos at http://tinyurl.com/ofkhh6

The Fourth of July Honor America Smoke-In and Gas-In -- not exactly Woodstock

I missed Woodstock. I had to work. Some surfer friends invited me to drive the 900-some miles with them to a field in upstate New York. They didn't have tickets but didn't see it as a problem. "Hendrix's going to be there, man -- and Santana!" I'd need money for gas and food. Take off a week from work. Sounded tempting, but I said no.

Class of 1969, working to pay for college. I had a ROTC scholarship but I still needed spending money. I needed clothes, too, because the ones I had bought over the preceding months had terminal smoke damage from the fire that burnt half of our house and infused the rest with clouds of smoke. I wanted to spend more time with my girlfriend before we headed off to separate colleges. I wanted to get in some storm surfing, too, as August can bring some big waves to Daytona. I was a hard-working lad, looking ahead with bright eyes and a sense of purpose -- with a bit of fear lurking in the background.

Over the next decade, I went to plenty of small music festivals and lots of concerts. I saw "Woodstock" the movie numerous times. I felt a twinge of regret that I didn't cast fate to the wind and just go. As it turns out, I missed so many of key cultural events of the 1960s and 1970s. I wasn't at Altamont, either. Don't hear too many Baby Boomers waxing nostalgic about that one. I never got to see Janis or Jimmy in concert, but I did see Woodstock performers Canned Heat and John Sebastian. Sebastian was on a concert bill with the Edgar Winter Group, which seems an odd match-up. Maybe that bad juju caused the riot that night at the Orlando Sports Stadium. That, and a group of people climbing the stadium fences to get in for free. We got tear-gassed and two of my friends -- including the driver of our concert vehicle -- were thrown in the slammer. We hitched a ride to the county jail and got the keys from Rick and got home around dawn.

Not exactly Woodstock.

I was tear-gassed at another concert. This was the "Honor America" concert during Fourth of July weekend 1970 on the National Mall in D.C. Paul from Notre Dame and I were on leave from our summer ROTC cruise and hitched from Norfolk to D.C., where both of us had college friends. Our original destination was the Atlanta Pop Festival, but we decided it was too far to go and, in D.C., there was a girl waiting for Paul. So D.C. it was.

Paul went to Alexandria, and I stayed with my friend Pat and his big Catholic family in northwest D.C. Pat and his brother and sisters and parents and grandma all went to the National Mall for the concert. Meanwhile, over the the Washington Monument, hippies were staging a smoke-in. As we settled in to enjoy the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, pray with Billy Graham and hear quips from Bob Hope, Pat and I thought we could smell the smoke drifting over from the monument. That's probably because we both were stoned, having earlier staged a much smaller smoke-in behind Pat's garage.

The crowd for "Honor America" was heavy on families. Who wouldn't enjoy the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and fireworks on the National Mall? We were all having a grand time until the tear gas arrived. Pat and I had been right -- prevailing winds had caused the smoke from the smoke-in to drift over to our crowd. That pissed off the cops and they dispersed the smokers with clouds of tear gas which immediately inundated us. Not too many of the Honor American crowd had been tear-gassed. Pat and I had the benefit of multiple gassings that spring during post-Kent State riots at University of South Carolina. We told Pat's family members to put a cloth over their faces. "Don't run," Pat said. "It only makes it worse."

They ran. Pat and I grabbed his grandma and guided her slowly back to the car. She was having difficulty breathing. You could see panic and tears on the faces of the escaping concert-goers. Later, over a joint with Pat and his brother, we laughed about it. "Welcome to the Fourth of July Honor America Smoke-In and Gas-In." "Our parents warned us about going to those concerts."

Not exactly Woodstock.

Not every concert ended in tear gas. In 1976 in Gainesville, I saw the wonderful Rolling Thunder Review tour with Dylan and Joan Baez and Roger McGuinn and Kinky Friedman. I was at the Eagles Hotel California concert outside in a different stadium in Orlando. I saw Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger at Red Rocks outside Denver in 1972 during a hitchhiking trip around the U.S. That same summer, I saw Quicksilver Messenger Service in Berkeley. I was at three Allman Brothers concerts with the original members, including the amazing Duane Allman.

None of them were Woodstock. But so what? I had fun at most of them. As for the rest -- they make great stories to tell our kids and grand-kids when they ask: "Dad (Grandpa) -- were you at Woodstock?"

Not at Woodstock, I say, but do I have some stories for you.

Author Don Delillo coming to Jackson Sept. 29

My first Don Delillo novel was "Running Dog." I picked up a hardback copy for a dollar at the annual Denver Public Library summer sale. It was subversive and wacky. Characters are pursuing a copy of Adolf Hitler's final movie, filmed in his underground bunker just before his suicide. A reporter from Running Dog, a sixties-style underground newspaper, is in a race to find the film.

I won't give away the ending. It's suitably Delillo. I went on to read almost all of his 14 books, including the National Book Award winner, "White Noise." "Libra" outlined an alternate history for the JFK assassination. For research, Delillo's read the entire Warren Commission Report, delivered to his house in multiple cardboard boxes. Earlier this year I read "Falling Man" which centers around the 9/11 World Trade Center attack.

Dark homor. Great stories. Memorable characters. What else do you need in a novel?

Delillo will be making a rare public appearance in Wyoming. Here are details from the Teton County Public Library in Jackson:

The University of Wyoming, Teton County Library Foundation and Jackson Hole Writers Conference present a rare evening with Don DeLillo, the author of 14 critically-acclaimed novels, on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 7:30-8:30 p.m. DeLillo is the winner of the 1985 National Book Award for "White Noise," and his novel "Underworld" was runner-up on the New York Times survey of best American fiction of the past 25 years. This is a free event at the Center for the Arts, Center Theatre. Contact: Adult Humanities Coordinator, Oona Doherty, 733-2164 ext. 135 or odoherty@tclib.org.

I'd travel 430 miles to see Don Delillo. And I may.

They're all bozos on this bus

Mike Dennison of the Billings Gazette reports that a gaggle of bus-riding anti-healthcare-reform people will drop into Pres. Obama's town hall meeting in Bozeman this Friday. They will come loaded with intelligent questions about health care reform. Or maybe just loaded.

Patients First, a project of Americans for Prosperity, is organizing bus tours in 13 states to promote opposition to health-reform proposals before Congress. One of those tours had been planned in Montana this week, and organizers slightly adjusted the schedule to have a stop in Bozeman on the day of the president's visit.

Jake Eaton, a former executive director of the Montana Republican Party and coordinator of the event, said the bus tour will feature speakers opposing the reforms as a "government takeover of health care," and will stop at pre-planned rallies in several cities, from Friday through Monday.

Americans for Prosperity is a nonprofit political group that promotes conservative causes or lobbies against liberal causes. It has ties to the Koch family, which controls Koch Industries, an oil-and-gas company and one of the largest privately held firms in the country.

Who is Koch Industries and why does it fund Americans for Prosperity? Media Matters had this:

Americans For Prosperity Has Strong Connections To Koch Industries. In a post titled "Americans For Prosperity Of Koch Industries," The Wonk Room wrote: "The group isn't just funded by an industry CEO, it was planted by one. David Koch, Executive Vice-President of family-founded multi-national conglomerate Koch Industries, is a founder of AFP and a financial supporter through the family-controlled and company-financed Claude R. Lambe Foundation. Koch Industries, Inc. and its sister company, Koch Holdings, LLC, own a group of companies invested in refineries, chemicals, minerals and so on." [The Wonk Room, 7/27/08]

Google shows that Koch has holdings in Wyoming. More research is needed. Anyone know where Koch has businesses and employees in The Oil/Gas/Coal State?

Americans for Prosperity also is one of those global-warming-denying outfits. No surprise there.

Great Falls Tribune reporter John S. Adams has the president's full schedule on his blog at http://mtlowdown.blogspot.com/

Health care horror stories across the U.S.

Pauline Bartolone sent this:

I just came across your blog, hummingbirdminds, and I saw that you have been posting about health care reform. I am a video producer at Consumers Union,the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, and I thought you might beinterested in some videos I've produced about residents in Wyoming and their access to health care.

Last summer, I drove around in an RV for 4 months gathering stories about everyday consumers' experience with the health care system. Wyoming was my favorite state in the lower-48! Seriously - it was just so beautiful!

Anyway here are a couple of the videos I did in Wyoming: Lori Donner in Cheyenne, who is uninsured with a thyroid condition. Go to http://bit.ly/12INcv. And Ken, an electrician in Thermopolis, who is uninsured and retirement age. Go to http://bit.ly/bsbur.

You can see the rest of the videos at: http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/video.html

Thanks, Pauline. Some hair-raising stories in Pauline's videos. Check them out. And keep working for a fair and just and affordable health care system.

Remainder of Cynthia Lummis's August recess schedule

I'm a little late getting Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis's August recess schedule up on the blog. So much going on during the dog days of summer.

Here's the remainder of the schedule:

Douglas
Wednesday, August 12, 3 p.m. – Cattlemen’s Conference; 4 p.m. – Interview with KKTY Radio; 5:30 p.m. – Ag BBQ and Ag Hall of Fame Award Banquet Dinner at State Fairgrounds.
Gillette
Thurday, August 13, 5 p.m. – Gillette Chamber of Commerce Mixer
Torrington
Friday, August 14, 11:30 a.m. – Interview with KGOS Radio; Noon – Town Meeting at EWCC Fine Arts Building, 3200 W. C Street; 1:30 p.m. – Visit Cavello Motor Company; 2:30 p.m. – Goshen County Care Center.
Wheatland
Friday, August 14, 5 p.m. – Town Meeting at Platte County Library, 904 9th Street
Douglas
Saturday, August 15, 10 a.m. – State Fair Parade
Cheyenne
Monday, August 17, 9:30 a.m. - Interview with KGAB Radio; Noon – Interview with KGWN TV; 12:30 p.m. - Interview with KFBC Radio
Casper
Tuesday, August 18, 2 p.m. – Tour Wyoming Medical Center

FMI: http://lummis.house.gov/index.html

I don't care if your mother says it's true. Check it out!

AM 760 hosts "real town hall meetings" in Colorado Aug. 20 & 27

My evening drive time in Cheyenne isn't very long, maybe 15 minutes at most. But during that time, I listen to Mario Solis Marich on AM 760 Progressive Radio out of Denver-Boulder. My favorite segment is "Video Clips (pronounced "cleeps") of the Day." Usually it's made up of the latest "audio clips (cleeps!) of the day" from various wingnuts: Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Michelle Bachmann, Sarah Palin, etc.

This afternoon, Mario was promoting his "real town hall meetings" of Colorado Democratic Congressional reps Ed Perlmutter and Jared Polis. He invited listeners to register for the Aug. 20 meet-up with Perlmutter and the Aug. 27 meet-up with Polis. However, you must sign up in advance and you must be a registered voter in the district your delegate represents. Mario plans to sign up an equal number of Repubs, Dems and Indies. Only those registered will be allowed in the door. You'll be called upon by a moderator to ask your question, which you don't have to submit in advance.

Mario hopes to filter out all those carpetbaggers paid by insurance congomerates, those loudmouths who are shouting down the speakers. It's possible that yelling and screaming still may erupt, but less likely under this format.

Good luck, Mario. I'll be listening.

FMI: http://www.am760.net/pages/mario_solis-marich.html

Keith Olbermann slams Palin's "death panels" and other wacky wingnuttia

Laramie Co. Democratic Grassroots Coalition holds milk can dinner Aug. 15

The Laramie County Democratic Grassroots Coalition is holding a milk can dinner on Saturday, Aug. 15, 1-4 p.m., at North Clear Creek Picnic Area on Southwest Drive in Cheyenne.

Admission is $10. Reservations are required. Call Katherine at 307-630-5058 or e-mail Linda at lpstowers@yahoo.com.

Prize drawings and a 50-50 raffle will be held during the event.

Mary Lou Marcum reminds attendees to bring along their recipes for the LCDGC Cookbook.

Fearmongering Religious Right again targets National Endowment for the Arts

Bill Berkowitz reports in Talk To Action that the Religious Right is once again going after the National Endowment for the Arts:

It used to be that the mere mention of the National Endowment for the Arts would immediately draw fire from the right. In the 1990s, "Defund the NEA" became a rallying cry that was regularly heard in the halls of Congress. Direct mail packages, designed by conservative public relations pros and delivered directly to your mailbox by the U.S. Postal Service, claimed that the agency supported anti-Christian and pornographic art projects. Demonizing the NEA was a fundraising tool that kept giving and giving and giving.

Over the past decade, however, in part because the agency appeared to consciously distance itself from funding controversial art projects, and in part because the Christian Right moved on to other issues (abortion, same-sex marriage, immigration), fighting funding for the NEA was no longer at the top of their agenda.

Concern over how President Barack Obama's stimulus money is being used is again focusing attention on the NEA. A July 30 Fox News report www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/29/stimulus-funds-art-houses-showing-pervert-revues-underground-pornography/) pointed out that some stimulus money (the Recovery and Reinvestment Act) earmarked for the NEA, wound up stimulating an NEA-funded "pornographic" film project, a long-running pansexual performance series, and a dance production featuring naked dancers.

Arts groups and arts funders used to run scared when the Religious Right engaged in its Know-Nothing diatribes. But we're beyond that nonsense. Ralph Reed and the rest of these fearmongering self-righteous nincompoops showed their true colors during the George W. Bush era, when they thought they owned the world and every American's soul. These buffoons have nothing to do with Christianity and everything to do with fear and hatred. We are afraid no more. Go crawl back into your holes!

Read entire Talk to Action article at http://www.talk2action.org/story/2009/8/9/125211/1420

"Sunday Night Films Not Seen in a Theater Near You" Aug. 16 in Laramie

Nancy Sindelar sends this from Laramie:

Sunday, August 16, Laramie: Double Feature -- Rick Steves' Iran Yesterday and Today and Fallout: Coming Home from the War in Iraq.

The Laramie Film Society and the Wyoming Peace, Justice, and Earth Center (publishers of Nancy's nifty newsletter) are cosponsoring the "Sunday Night Films Not Seen in a Theater Near You" series for the third summer. Proceeds are used to upgrade the projection and sound set up at the library.

Films begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Albany County Public Library, 310 S. 8th St. Get information at www.film.laramie.wy.us or http://www.ghosttownmovie.com/#/home. Free, soda and popcorn provided, donations accepted.

Brave New Voices 2009 in Denver

This is very cool...