Bad Deeds for 4-8-2011

 

Republican Cuts to Community Health Centers Will Increase Federal Deficit by $15 Billion – The federal government could save $15 billion by reducing unnecessary emergency room visits through investment in community health centers.

This week, new research, from the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative, pinpoints just how much we stand to lose in health care efficiency savings if the funding is cut as proposed; $15 billion. Put another way, for every $1 invested in CHC expansion, there is a potential savings in health care costs of $11.50.

Money to expand the CHC program may be cut from the budget. The report explains that if the funding is lost, then CHCs will not be able to serve the 10-12 million additional patients who were supposed to get care through expanded CHCs under the Affordable Care Act. If Congress refuses to allot $1.3 billion for cost-effective primary care, $15 billion in projected savings will evaporate.

If Republicans are serious about balancing the budget, they should happily expand the Community Health Center network.

 

Proposed Republicans Cuts Will Hurt Americans – If the proposed Republicans cuts are enacted into law:

• 218,000 young children would not be able to receive Head Start services.
• 11 million patients would lose health care they would have received at Community Health Centers over the next year, with 3.2 million losing care in the next few months; 127 health center sites would have to close, and 7,434 jobs would be lost.
• 20 million low-income people, including 5 million children, 2.3 million seniors and 1.7 million people with disabilities, would have access to anti-poverty services disrupted.
• 9.4 million low-income college students would lose some or all of their Pell grants.
• More than 8 million adults and youth would lose access to job training and other employment services. Job training under the Workforce Investment Act would essentially be shut down until July 2012.
• 81,000 low-income people, mostly seniors and some children, would no longer receive food packages and six states would not be able to join the program after being approved to do so.
• 1.2 million poor households in public housing (two-thirds of whose members are elderly or have a disability) would see maintenance and repairs on their apartments deteriorate due to cuts in the Public Housing Capital Fund.
• 10,000 people with significant long-term disabilities would lose their rental assistance; most of these would lose their homes.

 

Republican Governor of Wisconsin Gives High-Paying State Job to Son of Big Contributor – Republican Governor Scott Walker has given the son of a major political donor a very well-heeled post in the state’s Department of Commerce.

His qualifications: dropping out of college, working for a few Republicans, working for a lobbyist shop and getting busted a couple times for DUI.

Brian Deschane, the son of a lobbyist for the Wisconsin Builders Association and a major Walker donor, is now earning $81,500 a year on their dime. And lucky him: In Brian’s first two months on the job, he even landed a 26 percent pay raise. Deschane’s lobbying shop’s group and individual members donated a combined total of over $121,000 to the Walker’s campaign.

 

Wisconsin’s Governor Could Have Raised Each Taxpayer’s Tax by Just 13 Cents per Week Instead of Cutting Teachers’ Compensation by $3,000 – “If you wished to trim $30 million off of the budget, that works out to about $6.91 per Wisconsin taxpayer. So I must ask: Is it fair that you ask $3000 of me, but you fail to ask $6.91 of everyone? I know that times are tough, but would it not be more equitable to ask that each taxpayer in the state contribute an extra 13 cents a week?”

The above is from an open letter from high school social studies teacher, Eric Brehm of Endeavor, Wisconsin, to Gov. Scott Walker, asking about the impacts of his “budget repair bill.” It’s lengthy and worth reading—and passing on—in its entirety. You can also read up on Brehm at his blog, Bang the Bucket.

 

Republicans Handing Complete Control of the Internet to Big Telecom Companies – Republicans are pushing a “Resolution of Disapproval” that would strip the FCC of its authority to protect our right to free speech online. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and John Ensign (R-Nevada) introduced the “resolution of disapproval” on Wednesday. It already has 39 Republican cosponsors. In the House, Reps. Fred Upton (R-Michigan) and Greg Walden (R-Oregon) are pushing a similar measure. If it passes, the FCC would not just be barred from enforcing its already weak Net Neutrality rule, but also from acting in any way to protect Internet users against corporate abuses. If passed, the resolution would give phone and cable companies absolute power over the Internet. Imagine a world where these companies are allowed to do anything they want, ban any speech they don’t like, charge anything they can get away with, and hold innovation hostage to their profit margins. If this resolution passes, there’s nothing anyone could do about it.

 

Kansas Republican Representative Virgil Peck Proposes Controlling the Immigration Population by Shooting Them From Helicopters Like Feral Pigs – Enough said.

 

Republican National Committee to Presidential Candidates: Give Us Money, Get Easy Debates – The Republican National Committee is facing a serious money problem. With over $20 million in debt, another vicious (and long) election cycle already starting and a national convention only a year away, the group is looking for any way to raise cash beyond the basic general outreach of new party chairman Reince Priebus.

So the RNC is coming up with a new and unusual way to find funds — begging cash off of presidential contenders. In exchange for donating, candidates will get a leg up on the debates by getting to pick how they would like them done, from locations and frequency to who would host and what questions would be asked. The process would give the candidates an excuse to skip any potentially hostile debates.

It’s the Republican way: sweet deals for big bucks.

Regards,

Jim