Medina County Dem News

(Medina County Democratic Action Committee)

MCDAC Newsletter for September 21, 2007

Medina County Democratic Party Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on October 6

The Medina County Democratic Party Annual Jefferson Jackson Day
& Silent Auction
Satuday, October 6, 2007
Sharon Party & Event Center
6600 Ridge Rd (Route 94), Sharon Center, OH
6:30 - Party Time! Cash Bar
7:30 Buffet Dinner
$40 per person / $320 for a table of eight
Theme: Celebrate our local roots by bringing township/city memorabilia for display tables.

Please RSVP by September 28th by either
Making your reservation online at http://www.medinadems.org/ht/d/RegisterForEvent/i/136806/pid/278209
Mailing a check payable to "JJ Dinner Committee" to Medina County Democratic Party, P.O. Box 583, Medina, OH 44256
Clicking on "related document" link below to download a flyer/RSVP form
Note: Please consider making a donation of a silent auction item!

State Government Job Positions Open

Pam Miller, Chair of the Medina County Democratic Party and Carol Gurney have teamed up to put openings for Ohio State Government positions online at www.medinadems.org. Click here to view the openings:http://www.medinadems.org/ht/d/sp/i/278202/pid/278202

Recent MCDAC Blog Entries

September 16, 2007

Netherlands Approach to Health Care: Would it Work in Ohio?
The Netherlands has adopted a very intriguing approach to health insurance. First of all, it uses private insurance companies. Second, it requires all citizens to get health insurance. Third, it makes all health insurance companies accept all applicants. Fourth, it makes all health insurance companies offer the same basic policy with the same benefits. People can buy supplemental insurance, but the same standard policy with the same benefits has to be offered to everyone. You can read more about the Dutch approach to health insurance here.

One thing that should be kept in mind is that the Netherlands is bigger than the State of Ohio, but not a lot bigger. Ohio has a population of 11 million plus while the Netherlands has a population of 16 million plus. The advantage of such an approach is that it people who have health insurance would probably be able to keep such coverage, increasing their comfort level with the concept. Another advantage for doctors and other providers of health services is that there would be a universal insurance policy with a standard amount of benefits. Consumers wouldn't have to worry about being denied coverage for pre-existing conditions.

Another advantage of this program is that insurance companies would be forced to compete with each other by becoming more efficient. Right now there is a big difference between the administrative costs for private insurance companies and Medicare. The administrative costs, as represented by the percentage of health care dollars going to such costs, are much higher for private insurance companies than for Medicare.

The change would be politically difficult, but probably easier than establishing a state-run insurance program. Democrats should think about adopting the Dutch model as the model for Ohio.

Check out www.OhioMoneyTree.org
Want to find out who gets political money from who? Check out www.ohiomoneytree.org. You can check either by contributor names or by candidate/committee names. It is pretty interesting and is very comprehensive.

Alan Greenspan Says Iraq War is About Oil
Alan Greenspan has a new book out in which he is quite critical of the Bush Administration. Most of the press coverage of the book has been centered around his complaints about Bush and his disappointment with Cheney, who he served with in the Ford Administration. There is, however, a fascinating quote about Iraq. Here is the quote:

"I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil."

Now, apparently, he doesn't go into an explanation of what this quote means or why he believes that the Iraq War is about oil. This could just be speculation, but if it is, it is speculation coming from a man who is wired into both Republican and Washington power circles. The next time that some Bush loyalist tells you that this war was started because of weapons of mass destruction or to spread democracy, or any of the other discarded reasons we have been given, give them Greenspan's quote.

September 15, 2007

Western Colorado Trending Democratic Because of Environmental Concerns
The Washington Post posted an article on its website dated Sunday, September 16, 2007, about the growing Democratic vote in western Colorado. The Democratic vote is growing because of environmental concerns brought on by the Bush Administration's plans to vastly increase oil and natural gas drilling in Western Colorado. According to the residents of western Colorado, this increased drilling is destroying the beauty of the area. The natural beauty is one reason why many people have moved to the western part of the state.

This is a quote from the article:

At the behest of the White House, which made accelerated oil and gas leasing the top priority of the Bureau of Land Management, the gas industry has in the past five years transformed huge tracts of an iconic Western landscape into something resembling an industrial zone. As Coloradoans struggle to adjust to the changes -- a steady flow of heavy rigs on back roads, powerful odors from evaporation ponds and a small army of roughnecks gobbling methamphetamine to work 12-hour shifts -- disquiet grows over federal plans to open the spigot wider yet.

If you haven't visited western Colorado, you may want to schedule a visit before Bush turns the state into one great big oil and gas drilling field.

Voinovich's Iraq Position: Troop Withdrawal Good, Deadlines Bad
Ohio's other United States Senator, George Voinovich, gave an interview to WOSU radio in which he came out for the Bush Administration developing a plan to withdraw from Iraq, but, according to WOSU, he will not vote for a deadline. He says that he believes that a deadline of one year would be disastrous.

This is classic Voinovich: Do just enough to look like you are listening to Ohio's voters, but, when the chips are down, support Bubble-Boy's Iraq policy. This way he gets the praise of moderately conservative Ohio newspapers like the Plain Dealer and the Columbus Dispatch for being realistic about Iraq, but doesn't earn the animosity of the wing-nuts who vote in Ohio's Republican primaries.

This is always the problem that Cuyahoga County Republicans have in Ohio politics. Since they are from Cuyahoga County, they tend to be much more reasonable than some of the downstate Republicans. They have to be because Cuyahoga County, even in its Republican areas, will only tolerate a certain amount of right-wing craziness. This tendency toward reasonableness makes them hard for Democrats to beat in general elections, but makes them vulnerable in Republican primaries.

Look what happened, for example, to Jim Petro. Here he was a successful state-wide vote getter, a winner of races for Ohio Attorney General and Ohio State Auditor, a proven vote getter in the biggest Democratic county in the State, and he gets whacked in the primary by a right-wing nut job named Ken Blackwell. You can be sure that Voinovich took note of that election, especially if he is thinking about running for re-election in 2010.

Iraq, though, is different than other problems Voinovich has faced in his political career. The cost in human suffering and financial treasure to the United States is high compared to the importance that most of us who aren't oil company executives attach to the country. Voinovich's political balancing act may come to a crashing end over this issue if he decides to run in 2010.

September 14, 2007

Pelosi Goes After Bush's 10-Year War
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi issued a statement today, September 14, 2007, claiming that Bush's plan means a 10 year American presence in Iraq. Although the Republicans are going to deny it, her statement is based on comments that General Petraeus made to Congressional delegation.

This is a theme that has some legs. Bush spoke in his statement on Thursday evening, September 13, 2007, about creating an "enduring relationship" with Iraq's government. Of course, that assumes that Iraq will have a functioning government, but that is another matter altogether. We have already been in Iraq for over four years, and have actually increased the number of troops in Iraq over the last 12 months. So the American public might be very willing to believe that Bush and his neo-con friends would actually be in favor of a 10 year war.

Conservative Columnists Greatly Outnumber Liberal & Progressive Columnists
Media Matters has a report out that shows the tremendous conservative advantage in columnists that are published by American newspapers. This is a quote from the report:

Sixty percent of the nation's daily newspapers print more conservative syndicated columnists every week than progressive syndicated columnists. Only 20 percent run more progressives than conservatives, while the remaining 20 percent are evenly balanced.

In a given week, nationally syndicated progressive columnists are published in newspapers with a combined total circulation of 125 million. Conservative columnists, on the other hand, are published in newspapers with a combined total circulation of more than 152 million.

When you consider the tremendous advantage that conservatives have in the electronic media with their own network, Fox News; the advantage they have on talk radio; and the advantage they have in newspaper columnists, it is remarkable that they sincerely believe that there is such a thing as a "liberal" media. It is also remarkable that in spite of all these advantages, they still can be beat in honest elections.

September 13, 2007

Did Petraeus Arm Both Sides of Iraq's Civil War?
Here is another view of General David Petraeus and his role in Iraq. In this article, the person being interviewed by Amy Goodman argues that Petraeus has helped arm both Shia death squads and now Sunni death squads. These death squads are basically private militias under the control of tribal leaders and religious leaders in Iraq. They are definitely not under the control of the Iraqi government. It is well worth the time it takes to read it.

Fact-Checking the Prez
Salon Magazine's Tim Grieve has a post out that fact checks Bubble-Boy's speech last night about Iraq. You can read it here. Needless to say, BB stretched the truth last might and that is being charitable.

Master Narrative of the Bush Presidency
Jay Rosen, who blogs on media matters at Huffington Post, and on his own blog, has an entry on Huffington Post about the missing master narrative of the Bush Administration. That missing master narrative is the effort of the Bush Administration to increase the unchecked power of the presidency. Rosen uses the term "master narrative" to mean the story that drives all other stories. It is a way for the media and its public to make sense of the world around us, a way, if you will, "to connect the dots."

In this case, Rosen says that most political reporters used the master narrative that the Bushies were skilled at politics. The evidence was that Bush had won the 2000 election, although disputed, helped Republicans win the 2002 off-year election, and won re-election in 2004. The theory was that these wins demonstrated the political skill of Bush and Karl Rove.

What such a narrative overlooks, however, is that political campaigns cannot be separated from the political aims of the people conducting the campaigns. It is as if political reporters never asked themselves why exactly did Bush plan to accomplish with his political power. How exactly did he plan to govern? What goals would he try to accomplish with is political power?

Those questions were strangely missing from the media coverage of both the 2000 and the 2004 presidential campaigns. Consequently while Bush would claim a mandate for everything that he tried to do as President, the voters who supposedly gave him this mandate never really was told what he was trying to accomplish as President.

The master narrative suggested by Rosen allows consumers of news to understand what the Bush Administration is trying to accomplish. It explains why he waged a war on the rule of law, why he reacts viscerally to the idea of Congressional oversight, why he feels that it was permissible to start a war using questionable or false evidence, and why he believes that his administration can spy without a warrant on Americans or imprison an American without due process of law. The Bush Presidency is about turning the American presidency into a unchecked instrument for governing.

Boehner Says U.S. Is Paying a "Small Price" in Iraq
So here we have an incredible remark by Congressman John Boehner, who is the Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. Here is the question from Wolf Blitzer of CNN and Boehner's answer:

BLITZER: How much longer will U.S. taxpayers have to shell out $2 billion a week or $3 billion a week as some now are suggesting the cost is going to endure? The loss in blood, the Americans who are killed every month, how much longer do you think this commitment, this military commitment is going to require?

BOEHNER: I think General Petraeus outlined it pretty clearly. We're making success. We need to firm up those successes. We need to continue our effort here because, Wolf, long term, the investment that we're making today will be a small price if we're able to stop al Qaeda here, if we're able to stabilize the Middle East, it's not only going to be a small price for the near future, but think about the future for our kids and their kids.

Only a politician who doesn't have a family member serving in Iraq, who doesn't have to worry every day and night whether his loved one is safe in Iraq, could make that kind of statement. Frankly it is obscene and a hell of a lot more insulting to American soldiers than some ad run by Moveon.org.

Joyce V. Kimbler,
Treasurer
MCDAC
P.O. Box 1213
Medina, OH 44258
On the world wide web at http://www.mcdac.org/.

Medina County Democratic Action Committee
Joyce Kimbler, Treasurer
P.O. Box 1213
Medina, OH 44258
joycekimbler@medinacountydemocraticactioncommittee.org