Health Care | Majority Agenda Project

Instead of Cutting Benefits, VT Moves to Single-Payer Heath System

Submitted by wtchen on Mon, 05/09/2011 - 16:08

We see states (under Tea Party administrations and even MA's Democratic governor) cutting public workers' pay and benefits. But this is not just to balance the state budgets. These state are starting a project that will reshape the economic future of our country.

There are other alternatives to budget problems, but there has been little in mass media about Vermont's progress toward a single-payer health care system. On May 5, the VT Senate passed a bill establishing a health-care system serving all Vermonters. See:

With health costs rising, Vermont moves toward a single-payer system: www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/blogs/the_angle/2011/04/vermonts_single.html

and: Vermont closing in on single payer: www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/vermont-closing-in-on-single-payer/2011/05/09/AFvtBmZG_blog.html

Madrick: Ryan Plan Won't Work

Submitted by suren on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 14:33

Two dogs that won't hunt are at the core of Representative Paul Ryan's budget proposals: privatising Medicare and tax cuts for the rich. In a sharp rebuttal, Roosevelt Institute Fellow, Jeff Madrick shows that even if we accept the budget cutting goals, Ryan's plan fails the country. For one thing, turning the efficient Medicare program over to the private sector immediately increases administrative overhead costs. On the second topic: tax cuts for the rich--like those initiated by Ronald Reagan--have been be paid for regressive Social Security payroll taxes.

Populist Individualism? The Tea Party Revolt

Submitted by suren on Mon, 05/10/2010 - 18:23

The Tea Party is everywhere, especially if News Corp (Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and Co.) is part of your daily news regimen. In a review of 5 recent books looking at the Tea Party and the forces shaping it, Mark Lilla (writing in the New York Review of Books), argues that the Tea Party phenomenon completes a process begun by both liberal and conservative elites: the latter emphasizing individual economic "rights" and the former individual social rights. To demonstrate this point, Lilla surfaces the suspicion at the heart of the movement: that educated elites are controlling our lives and are increasing their grip. This interesting thesis is carefully developed in his 5,000 word essay.

Corporate Responsibility Fixes - Colbert's Guide

Submitted by suren on Tue, 05/04/2010 - 14:24

As the environmental, health and economic challenges seem to spiral downward, Stephen Colbert offers some use advice about using your power as a consumer in an integrated way. Call it the "Corporate Minority Agenda Project" ;-)

"I am praising [KFC] for raising breast cancer awareness by selling pink buckets of chicken. For every bucket sold, KFC donates 50 cents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization that raises awareness of breast cancer. Some are saying this endorsement sends a mixed message, like Barbara Brenner, executive director of Breast Cancer Action, who argues "They are raising money for women's health by selling a product that's bad for your health - it's hypocrisy." No, madam, it's hip-hop crispy.