Yes We Can! Long Island

As The Year-Long Battle to Reform America’s Health Insurance System Draws Towards a Close, A Reminder Why…

YWC!LI — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:31:11 +0000

This afternoon the President was in Ohio as the year-long battle to finally reform America’s health insurance system draws towards a close – and he took the opportunity to remind everybody why he has fought so hard for so long against such powerful interests. He was introduced by Connie Anderson, the sister of Natoma Canfield – a woman whose awful but all-too-common struggles have served as a brutal symbol of what is wrong with our system for millions of others.

It began with a letter – the type of letter millions of Americans have written to their presidents since the founding of this country. But this letter, which she likely never expected anybody even close to the President to see, ended up in his hands. It told of her story having battled off cancer sixteen years ago, and having battled with her insurance company ever since — see the scanned images below or read the text of the letters here.

The President replied to her letter, but that was only the beginning:

Read on @ The White House Blog

NYTimes Op-Ed: How the G.O.P. Goes Green

Phil — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:30:46 +0000

Most conservative Republican politicians refuse to acknowledge that global warming is man-made or controllable. So how does a staunch republican conservative support an energy bill that goes beyond drill baby drill, when he realizes that the younger than 30 crowd grew up with recycling and believes that climate change is real? Simple don’t mention “climate change”, call it a plan to “reduce carbon pollution” or “gain energy independence” or “a jobs program”. I guess I’ll accept the spin if it can help the USA restore leadership in clean energy and bring sustainable jobs to Long island.

NY Times Op-Ed by Thomas Freidman

I am sitting with Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican, who, along with John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, is trying to craft a new energy bill — one that could actually win 60 votes. Graham’s approach to bringing around his conservative state has been simple: avoid talking about “climate change,” which many on the right don’t believe. Instead, frame our energy challenge as a need to “clean up carbon pollution,” to “become energy independent” and to “create more good jobs and new industries for South Carolinians.” He proposes “putting a price on carbon,” starting with a very focused carbon tax, as opposed to an economywide cap-and-trade system, so as to spur both consumers and industries to invest in and buy new clean energy products. He includes nuclear energy, and insists on permitting more offshore drilling for oil and gas to give us more domestic sources, as we bridge to a new clean energy economy.

Read Thomas Friedman’s entire Op-Ed at NYTimes.com.

We Can’t Wish Away Climate Change

Phil — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:40:04 +0000

Long Island had one of the snowiest winters in years! Leading many citizens to question if climate change is a real concern. Former Vice President Al Gore debunks the so-called email controversy and explains why this year’s harsh winter is consistent with global warming effects which in some regions like the North East of the USA will result in greater precipitation. VP Gore also explains the wide range of catastrophic impacts that we can expect. For example, sea level rise will likely submerge low lying coastal areas. And Long Islanders know that could include much of our south shore. The former VP goes on to explain how the US economy will decline if we fail to forcefully enter the economic race with China, and other countries, to achieve a sustainability economy and energy independence. Mr. Gore believes that the current political stalemate in Washington DC has slowed the world’s shift away from dirty cheap fossil fuels as the world continues to use the earth’s atmosphere as an open sewer.

It would be an enormous relief if the recent attacks on the science of global warming actually indicated that we do not face an unimaginable calamity requiring large-scale, preventive measures to protect human civilization as we know it. Of course, we would still need to deal with the national security risks of our growing dependence on a global oil market dominated by dwindling reserves in the most unstable region of the world, and the economic risks of sending hundreds of billions of dollars a year overseas in return for that oil. And we would still trail China in the race to develop smart grids, fast trains, solar power, wind, geothermal and other renewable sources of energy — the most important sources of new jobs in the 21st century.

Read the rest of Al Gore’s Op-Ed at NYTimes.com.

President Obama: American People Belong Ahead of Insurance Companies

YWC!LI — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:41:58 +0000

Today the President made it exceedingly clear that he intends to move forward on reform to put Americans in control of their health care, and explained once again why:

“Democrats and Republicans agree that this is a serious problem for America. And we agree that if we do nothing -– if we throw up our hands and walk away -– it’s a problem that will only grow worse. Nobody disputes that. More Americans will lose their family’s health insurance if they switch jobs or lose their job. More small businesses will be forced to choose between health care and hiring. More insurance companies will deny people coverage who have preexisting conditions, or they’ll drop people’s coverage when they get sick and need it most. And the rising cost of Medicare and Medicaid will sink our government deeper and deeper and deeper into debt. On all of this we agree.

So the question is, what do we do about it?”

The answer to that question, of course, has been at least a year in the making – countless hearings, meetings, and conversations have brought the best ideas from both sides to the surface, and the President’s proposal includes a broad array of Republican suggestions in addition to Democratic ones.

The remainder of The White House Blog post, along with a video of President Obama’s extended remarks can be viewed at The White House Blog.

Funny or Die’s Presidential Reunion Video on the Consumer Financial Protection Agency

Ben — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:02:01 +0000

Barack Obama gets a surprise visit in the night from ex-Presidents Bush Sr., Bush Jr., Clinton, Ford, Reagan and Carter to get a few pointers about the Consumer Financial Protection Agency and why it’s so important.

Funny or Die’s Presidential Reunion from Will Ferrell

The Main Street Brigade: Protect the Consumer

YWC!LI Climate Change Conference – Now Free!

YWC!LI — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:50:39 +0000

The Science, Legislation & Expanding Role of Individuals

Our environment is central to all the issues that confront us. There is much that each of us can and needs to do to make the world a better place to live—short- and long-term. We need to understand climate change better and come to recognize how it will impact our lives, the lives of our children and grandchildren, and generations beyond.

Expert Speakers & Exhibitors on:

Causes and effects of climate change
Status of federal and local legislation
How to compete for high-paying “green” jobs
How to advocate for solutions
How to lower your carbon footprint & improve your home’s energy efficiency
How to use solar and wind power in your home and get the best deals
How to get LIPA subsidies and federal tax credits worth tens of thousands of dollars for installation of solar power

Confirmed Speakers

Lisanne Altmann, LIPA
Rabia Aziz, Advocating for Solutions
Prof. Bret Bennington, Hofstra University
Prof. Malcolm Bowman, Stony Brook University
Prof. Hillary Brown, Spitzer School of Architecture, CCNY
Hon. David Denenberg, Nassau County Legislature
Hon. Jon Kaiman, Supervisor, Town of North Hempstead
Neal Lewis, Sustainability Institute, Molloy College
Chuck Schwartz, Green Drinks

Confirmed Exhibitors

9 a.m. – 1 p.m., Saturday, March 20, The Metropolitan, 3 Pratt Blvd., Glen Cove, N.Y.
Registration, 9 a.m.; Program, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.; Exclusive Exhibit Time, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Pre-Register Here

Through the generosity of anonymous donors committed to the goals of greater energy-efficiency and reliance upon renewable fuel sources, we are delighted to invite you to attend our Climate Change Conference at no cost.
Light refreshments and a free Going Green ‘tote bag’ for grocery shopping will be given to each participant.

Avoid the spin and review the Obama Health Care proposal yourself.

YWC!LI — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:43:42 +0000

Over the past year the House and the Senate have been working on an effort to provide health insurance reform that lowers costs, guarantees choices, and enhances quality health care for all Americans. Building on that year-long effort, the President has now put forth a proposal that incorporates the work the House and the Senate have done and adds additional ideas from Republican members of Congress. The President has long said he is open to any good ideas for reforming our health care system, and he looks forward to discussing ideas for further improvements from Republicans and Democrats at an open, bipartisan meeting on Thursday.

The proposal will make health care more affordable, make health insurers more accountable, expand health coverage to all Americans, and make the health system sustainable, stabilizing family budgets, the Federal budget, and the economy:

It makes insurance more affordable by providing the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history, reducing premium costs for tens of millions of families and small business owners who are priced out of coverage today. This helps over 31 million Americans afford health care who do not get it today – and makes coverage more affordable for many more.
It sets up a new competitive health insurance market giving tens of millions of Americans the exact same insurance choices that members of Congress will have.
It brings greater accountability to health care by laying out commonsense rules of the road to keep premiums down and prevent insurance industry abuses and denial of care.
It will end discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions.
It puts our budget and economy on a more stable path by reducing the deficit by $100 billion over the next ten years – and about $1 trillion over the second decade – by cutting government overspending and reining in waste, fraud and abuse.

Key Provisions in the President’s Proposal:

The President’s Proposal builds off of the legislation that passed the Senate and improves on it by bridging key differences between the House and the Senate as well as by incorporating Republican provisions that strengthen the proposal.

One key improvement, for example, is eliminating the Nebraska FMAP provision and providing significant additional Federal financing to all States for the expansion of Medicaid. For America’s seniors, the proposal completely closes the Medicare prescription drug “donut hole” coverage gap. It strengthens the Senate bill’s provisions that make insurance affordable for individuals and families, while also strengthening the provisions to fight fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid to save taxpayer dollars. The threshold for the excise tax on the most expensive health plans will be raised from $23,000 for a family plan to $27,500 and will start in 2018 for all such plans. And another important idea included is improving insurance protections for consumers and creating a new Health Insurance Rate Authority to review and rein in unreasonable rate increases and other unfair practices of insurance plans.

Summaries of Key Elements of the President’s Proposal:

Obama: Status quo on health is good for insurance companies, bad for America

Ellis — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:51:15 +0000

In his weekly radio address, President Obama used Anthem Blue Cross of California’s proposed rate hikes to make that the point that the U.S. can no longer afford the status quo on healthcare. He urged members of both parties who will attend next week’s health care summit to come together to develop workable ideas rather than use the occasion for “political theatre.”

US Supports Nuclear Power as Clean Energy

Phil — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:37:07 +0000

More than 3 decades after Long Island’s Shoreham nuclear power plant was closed by protests, the Obama administration has agreed to financially support the first new reactors to be built since the 1970’s, in the form of $8.3 billion loan guarantees for two new reactors in Georgia. This controversial action points out how difficult it will be for the US to reduce green house gas emissions by 83% before 2050 as suggested in pending house legislation on climate change. The two major problems often identified by environmentalists are the disposal of nuclear waste and sitting problems due to the risk to nearby populations. Will another nuclear reactor be planned for Long Island? I’d say that is extremely, extremely, unlikely. Perhaps the bigger question for Long Islanders is: will we oppose nuclear power anywhere else in the USA even if it is deemed critical to a comprehensive plan? I hope we won’t, as I agree with President Obama that carbon free nuclear energy will be vital to any realistic plan to prevent catastrophic climate change.

WASHINGTON — President Obama, speaking to an enthusiastic audience of union officials in Lanham, Md., on Tuesday, underscored his embrace of nuclear power as a clean energy source, announcing that the Energy Department had approved financial help for the construction of two nuclear reactors in Georgia.If the project goes forward, the reactors would be the first begun in the United States since the 1970s.

Read the fulll article @ The New York Times

The Curious Case of Governor Paterson

Ben — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 02:43:40 +0000

On Saturday morning, Governor Paterson formally announces his election campaign right here on Long Island at Hofstra University. The ability and competence of David Paterson has come into question in a series of New York Times articles printed this week; Wednesday’s investigation into an aid, and Friday’s profile on Governor Paterson has brought even more questions to the viability of his election bid, and if Attorney General Andrew Cuomo should be anointed the next governor of New York.

While Yes We Can! Long Island’s focus is on federal issues, this is an election that effects all of our members, and while the organization will not be taking a position on the governors race, I would like to encourage discussion on the governors race and hear your thoughts and opinions on the Curious Case of Governor David Paterson and his handling of the Empire State for nearly two years.