The Debt Deal - with Rep. Ed Markey

Last night I was one of about 30 people attending a meeting with Representative Ed Markey (D-MA) to discuss the Budget Control Act and its likely effect on health care.  It was an information exchange, as he presented how the Budget Control Act is slated to play out and then listened to our concerns as to how that will most likely affect health care, ourselves, and our constituents/clients.

The Debt Deal (Budget Control Act) Basics
Markey laid out the "Debt Deal" as having 3 major steps, with Step 1 already complete: passage by the House and Senate and President Obama's signature on the Bill last Monday, August 1, 2011.

Step 1 is designed to trim $917 Billion from the budget over 10 years through spending cuts and caps.  $350 Billion will come from defense with the remainder from discretionary funds, which could include health care areas except Medicare and Medicaid.

Step 2 is the Super Committee, comprised of 12 members: 6 Republicans and 6 Democrats -- divided evenly between House and Senate from each party.  These legislators must hammer out an agreement by November 23, 2011 that reduces the federal deficit by $1.2 - $1.5 Trillion over 10 years and Congress must then pass that agreement as a Bill by December 23, 2011.

• In this step, nothing is off the table as far as spending cuts or caps or measures to increase revenues. 
• The Super Committee must reach agreement - i.e., reach agreement by simple majority (7 yes votes). 
• If they reach an agreement, that agreement goes to Congress as a bill they must vote on with no options for changes, filibuster, or other political maneuvering.  A simple yes/no vote is required.  
• The Bill then goes to the President for signature, with Presidential veto possible but unlikely. 

Step 3 kicks in only if Step 2 fails totally -- i.e,. there is no agreement --, Congress fails to approve an agreement, the President vetoes the resulting Bill, or it fails to reduce the deficit enough*.  Step 3 triggers automatic cuts in spending that are basically 50/50 between defense and non-defense budget items. 

• Defense would be cut by approximately 9%; this could include cuts to the VA (Veterans Administration).
• Non-defense would be cut by approximately 8%; these non-defense cuts would include a $2.5B cut to NIH (National Institutes for Health), a $525M cut to NSF (National Science Foundation), and a 2% cut (approximately $20B) to Medicare providers.  Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare benefits are exempt in Step 3. 

*Note that Step 3 would kick in, at a reduced level, if Step 2 results in passage of a Bill that is significantly less than the expected $1.2-$1.5 Trillion.  The cuts in Step 3 would be amounts that would bring the total deficit reduction to the $1.2-$1.5T.

Super Committee
The 12 legislators chosen for this high stakes poker game have a great deal of latitude in how they slash the budget to reach $1.2-$1.5 Trillion in deficit reduction.  Nothing is off the table, according to the rules of the game. That includes Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs that are actually protected in Steps 1 and 3.

This step also includes the possibility of revenue generation.  However, when half the Super Committee has already pledged no tax increases, that immediately ties the other half of the Committee's hands.  As Markey pointed out last night, GOP leadership excluded any Republican leaders from the Super Committee who had indicated they were open to raising taxes**. 

Response from Attendees
Attendees included some people from Cambridge Health Alliance, two different Alzheimer's advocacy groups, Mass Senior Action Council (they were out in force with half a dozen attendees -- great advocacy!), Hallmark Health, myself from Tri-CAP (also representing the HealthMINT Network and the Heritage Tenants Association), a Mass Elders advocacy group, individuals representing themselves and their family members, and state senators Pat Jehlan (D-Medford) and David Linsky (D-Natick) and a representative from sate Senator Katherine Clark (D-Malden).  Some groups were represented but I just cannot recall their names, so if were there and I missed you feel free to comment on this post and add that you were there!

Concerns included fears that:

• the automatic deficit reduction strategy would decimate essential health research and that will result in far-reaching future medical costs that will only increase our debt, 
• cuts to medicare providers will result in increased health costs to everyone else,
• no one seems to be talking about increasing revenues to offset the deficit
• the GOP is playing hardball while we're caving in and that has to stop
• it's not a negotiation if one side comes to the table refusing to consider other options (i.e., the "no tax increases" stand by the GOP),
• defense cuts might unfairly reduce VA benefits, and
• fear that those already slipping over the edge into an abyss of depression, job loss or pay cuts, housing loss, stress, mental health issues, etc. are not finding any relief and this Bill makes that worse. 

Markey then asked us each to tell him which Step (2 or 3) we would "vote" for so he can go back to the House and talk to his colleagues.  Nineteen (19) participants voted for Option 2 as preferable over the seven (7) votes for Option 3.  He also reminded us that every legislator needs to hear from all of us.  If we want to have a say in the final outcome, we must mobilize and make our voices heard on the subject.  The Tea Party has been very organized and goal-driven; we must do so also if we don't want our worst fears to come to fruition. 

Congressman Markey, we appreciate your invitation for us to meet with you and give you our input on this critical matter and to represent our constituents' needs.

Additional information sources for this morning's article:

• "Quick Summary" of the bill by Keith Hennessey
• "The Debt super committee: who will serve on it,"by Paul Kane, Washington Post
• **"Deficit 'super committee' reflects party leadership," by Lisa Mascaro, Los Angeles Times
• Numerous articles on economics and politics by Paul Krugman, NY Times

Disclaimer:   I attended this meeting as part of my paid job with Tri-CAP and thus "reported" on it in this format.  My views do not necessarily reflect the views of Tri-CAP. 

Diabetes Prevention

As I promised earlier this month, a few tips on diabetes prevention.  There is such a wealth of good information on the web on this topic that I will only hit the highlights.  There are plenty of links to reputable sites for you to follow to get more in-depth information.

For Type One Diabetes, which affects about 5%-10% of people with diabetes, there is no prevention at this time.  Because it is usually diagnosed early in life, it used to be called Juvenile Diabetes.  With Type One Diabetes, the body does not produce enough insulin to process glucose into energy.  Treatment typically involves some type of insulin therapy and other treatments to replace the missing insulin and help convert glucose into energy.

Type Two Diabetes is most common, affecting  more than 23.6 million Americans. Some estimate that 57million Americans have diabetes, many not yet knowing it.  In Type Two Diabetes, the body may not produce enough insulin or it may ignore the insulin that's there-- the insulin doesn't do its job, so to speak. While in my youth I often heard this referred to as adult onset diabetes, I no longer hear that phrase.  This is because Type Two Diabetes is affecting children and young adults in far greater numbers than ever before.

Risk Factors for Diabetes
The American Diabetes Foundation (ADA) states that both forms of diabetes have two factors:

• a genetic predisposition to diabetes; someone in your immediate or close family has/had diabetes;
• a triggering environmental incident or situation; lifestyle--food choices, activity/exercise level, what part of world you live in, etc.

Type Two Diabetes has the higher correlation to environmental factors and lifestyle.  What the ADA finds interesting is that, while lifestyle--high fat, too little carbohydrate and fiber, and lack of exercise--are strong risk factors, these play out for those living a Western lifestyle (European and American).  The same factors do not correlate to getting the disease for people living in other parts of the world.

Some racial and ethnic groups and the elderly have a higher incidence of Type Two Diabetes.  If you are African-American,  Latino/Latina, Native American, Asian American, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or you are elderly, your risk is higher. 

Diabetes Prevention 
The result of either type of diabetes is too much blood glucose in the body, which the body cannot process into energy.  The cells are starving while their "food" is all around them.

A Simple Demonstration
Earlier this month, our Hunger Network had a brief presentation where the presenter pulled a clear, plastic canister out of a bag.  In it were a group of white ping pong balls, representing cells in the body.  They were partly surrounded by a red liquid representing blood in the body. 

• Liquid in the first canister rolled smoothly around the balls when she rotated it; this represented a body with normal glucose levels; the "cells" had no difficulty  moving.  
• She pulled out a second canister; the liquid was a bit thicker and didn't roll quite as quickly around the cells.  This represented an elevated blood glucose level.  It was more difficult for the cells to move.
• She pulled out a third canister; the liquid was quite thick and the cells barely moved.  This represented a high glucose level that could be found in someone with diabetes, even if undiagnosed! 

The Mayo Clinic has this article on tips to prevent Type Two Diabetes.  As with all programs for diabetes prevention and control, it recommends

• physical activity, 
• more fiber, 
• whole grains, 
• losing weight, and 
• making healthier food choices rather than going on fad diets.

WebMD provides similar advice, and adds that you should stop smoking.  This is recommend to mitigate the effects of diabetes on the body.  Diabetes often leads to heart disease as does smoking; the combination is, quite literally, a killer.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) points to a study on diabetes prevention (see next paragraph) which demonstrated that "people can delay and possibly prevent the disease by losing a small amount of weight (5 to 7 percent of total body weight) through 30 minutes of physical activity 5 days a week and healthier eating."

For readers who want a more clinical resource, The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse has a Diabetes Prevention section you may want to read.  Their study is mentioned in the previous paragraph. 

The UC Berkeley (University of California at Berkeley) newsletter issue on diabetes prevention, Wellness Letter, has a good one-page summary that may prove helpful.  You can subscribe to their newsletter which informs you on a variety of wellness topics. 

Speaking Personally
On a personal note, my brother lived all over the world over 35+ years.  He was often assigned to "lesser developed" nations.  He would always drop weight after living for a time in one of these countries and he swears that it's because they don't over-process their grains and other foods.  And when he'd return to the US for a time, the weight would come right back.  I think he's onto something and I'm now buying items such as stone ground corn meal when I can find them.

World Diabetes Day & the Big Blue Test - View Video by Nov 14, 2010

Act quickly - November 14 is this Sunday! 
Here's the scoop.

World Diabetes Day  -- Sunday, November 14, 2010 -- is also a deadline for viewing a video linked to a unique opportunity to help a child with diabetes get insulin.

1. Check out the websites linked in this post for additional information.
2. View this short (less than 2 minutes) video from Diabetes Hands Foundation, Diabetes Daily, and Diabetes Stories.  View the video by Sunday, November 14, 2010 and Roche Diabetes Care, makers of ACCU-Check(c) diabetes products and services, will make a donation to support Life for a Child and Insulin for Life. 
3. Take part in the Big Blue Test on Sunday, November 14, 2010.  (Don't worry; it won't take long.)
4. Share your experience!

The Big Blue Test is an eye-opener for many people.  I won't spoil it for you.  Check out the link for the test and just do it; it doesn't take long and it is something you can share to help inform others.  While it is designed for people with diabetes, if you don't have diabetes - or don't know that you have diabetes - you can do the 2nd part and make your body feel better! 

I'll follow up on Jeff Hansell's request to post some diabetes prevention care in another post.  The deadline of this Sunday to have a donation made based on just viewing a video pushed that other topic back a bit.

Until next post...

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month

Diabetes: Could You Have It But Not Know It?

• Nearly 24 million Americans have diabetes and know it.   
• Millions more have diabetes and don't know it - they have no symptoms and have never been tested.  Estimates put this number at 57 Million Americans at risk! 

Diabetes can be a silent killer.  It's scary. 

Two Types of Diabetes 

Type One Diabetes occurs when the body cannot produce sufficient insulin to convert starches and sugar into energy for the body to use.  This typically gets diagnosed in childhood/youth and is not preventable - you often hear it referred to as Juvenile Diabetes, but that's because it gets diagnosed early; it continues to affect you throughout life.  The body just cannot produce enough insulin.  Type One Diabetes is treated through insulin therapy and other strategies.  It can be a fatal disease, but is usually manageable with proper treatment. 

Type Two Diabetes can be caused by the body not producing enough insulin, or by the cells ignoring the insulin the body produces.  Type Two Diabetes affects the majority of people with diabetes and is both preventable and manageable.  Exercise and diet are the major factors in preventing Type Two Diabetes.  Type Two Diabetes was typically seen in adults. Unfortunately, today we see more and more children diagnosed with it.  That is part of the reason behind the current effort to reduce sugary products in schools. 

Because diabetes is such a big risk to our health, I've decided to join the campaign to blog regularly thoughout November on this topic.  I'll add more content every few days (I will try for every day) and add links to help you learn more about this health problem.

Why Do I Care?

Diabetes is part of my family.  My grandfather had Type Two Diabetes and lived to the ripe age of 96.  He walked every day, outlived most of his doctors, and lived by the "apple a day" prescription common to his generation.  He was insulin-dependent (depended on insulin shots to help regulate the amount of insulin in his body so it could process sugars properly) but had few complications.  He was lucky. 

My cousin had Type One Diabetes and died from complications in her early 30s.  It was a shock to us.  This was nearly 30 years ago and we know that treatments today have improved.  But it's still a serious disease that requires careful treatment.  Her body had great difficulty processing insulin and even with proper management, she had a great many complications.  I remember my mother cooking dinners for her and bringing them to her in the Joslin Clinic, right down to china plates and a small vase with a rose, so she could feel somewhat at home even in the hospital.  She was there for amputation of one of her toes.  You see, poor circulation is one of common complications of diabetes.  Poor circulation and neuropathy - nerve damage with resulting loss of sensation - means that even a small cut in the foot can lead to serious infections.

One uncle died from complication from Type Two Diabetes.  Although he was in his later 70s and we had the benefit of having him around for many years, tell that to his wife and children who miss him.  Another uncle was diagnosed just a few years ago.  In his 80s, he is managing it.

It just seems as if it runs in our family.  So it is important to me and to everyone else in my family.   One of my four brothers has hypoglycemia - which is caused when the body uses up glucose (sugar) too quickly, glucose is released by the body too slowly, or the body produces too much insulin for the body to process properly.  Hypoglycemia can occur in people with diabetes, but there is condition called Idopathic Hypoglycemia where the cause of this imbalance is unknown and the person does not have diabetes. 

Growing up with this so much a part of my family, especially my grandfather and cousin, I learned from my mother to cook with about half the sugar called for in any recipe and always use less salt than stated.  I don't even add salt after cooking.  I watch in wonder as I see people in restaurants pick up the salt and pour it on food they haven't even tasted yet!  People often don't seem to know how to appreciate the taste of the actual food they're eating.  Salt can flavor food, but it also helps regulate fluids in the body.  Too much salt, however, can cause health complications such as high blood pressure (hypertension). 

Consider this: every french fry from that fast food place is loaded with salt!  Some places actually add sugar to the cooking oil.  Would you sit down and pour sugar on your french fries?  If we start considering how much sugar and salt are in the preprocessed or precooked foods we eat, we might find that we are killing ourselves through ignorance.  If we can cook more at home and bring that home cooking to work for lunch, we can cut a huge chunk out of our poor food choices. 

Speaking of work - I've got to go!  See you in a day or two with another post on Diabetes -- or whatever else is On My Mind.

Obama Must Not Back Down on Health Insurance Reform

Each day there are more articles revealing how some Republican leaders in town hall-style meetings are permitting misinformation, myths, and distortions about the health care reform bill to go unchallenged.  They're even furthering the "untruth" by tacking on additional editorial comments to the questioner's statement and taking the false scenarios even farther.

This is an intentional ploy to derail President Obama and is not about health care reform.  And it could work.  They pretend to discuss compromise but have no interest in forward movement.  These leaders are not serving the American public; they are serving a political party that wants its power back. Some of these leaders on the Senate Finance Committee, part of the "Gang of Six."  that is reviewing the bill for areas where they can compromise.  (See my Aug 29th post on this topic.)  

There are many people who have legitimate concerns about the costs and benefits of the reform bill under discussion.  Democratic and Republican leaders are among those with concerns.  This is not a bad thing.  Disagreement can lead to a better bill that serves us better.  Concern, discussion, and disagreement can lead to compromise.  But as I've discussed before, some of the dissenters are not interested in compromise.

These vocal opponents are interested only in derailing Obama's power.  Health care reform is their weapon. 

My message to the President, and to my legislators, is to stop playing "pretend compromise" and focus on what is best for the American public.  The Public Option is vital to true health care reform.  You knew that going in; now refocus and move forward.

The Democratic Party needs to find those Republican legislators who have the guts to vote on conscience, defying Republican leaders who are using this important bill to derail the President.  If there are areas where compromise makes sense without gutting the bill, then compromise.

Democrats and Republicans who have issues with the bill need to discuss those issues without distortion.  And they all need to tell the American public the truth, pointing out what the lies and distortions are when they surface so Americans can be informed and not lied to; the lies of omission must stop.

But overall, they must listen to the American public.  Our voices have been raised, loudly and clearly.  But it seems as if leaders in both parties are not listening.  Their ears are tuned elsewhere.

Tune in to us.

Listen to us.

We're talking to you...

Health Care Reform: One Argumentt -- Two Sets of Rules

Don't you just hate it when you are trying to understand an issue and someone comes along and starts talking about it -- but they're not really talking about it?  Instead, they're injecting a different topic into the conversation disguised as a position on the original topic?  It's like changing the rules in the middle of a game without telling the opponent.  The purpose, of course, is to derail the original discussion and get people talking about something else and never have to deal with the guts of the original.

The discussion was about health care reform.    Now Republican leaders are attempting to derail the conversation by introducing a senior health care bill of rights.  Republicans supposedly put this forward to ease seniors' concerns over health care "rationing" and cost-cutting under Medicare.  Now I wonder where that idea came from? 

"Under the Democrats' plan, senior citizens will pay a steeper price and will have their treatment options reduced or rationed," according to Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, in an op-ed in Monday's Washington Post (subscription required to view most articles).  This is the same Michael Steele who, in 2006, called for cuts to Medicare to control runaway costs.   How convenient that the GOP has an answer ready to assuage seniors' fears, making a radical shift in position from 3 years ago.  How ironic that this "ready answer" deals with a concern that they created! 

In 2006, Steele felt that the way to reduce Medicare costs was to cut benefits to seniors.  In the current health care reform bill, H.R. 3200, Medicare costs are reduced by reduction of payments to providers.  Everyone seems to complain about runaway health care costs, but when there is a plan on the table to curb those rising costs while maintaining a level of coverage for vulnerable seniors, the Republication option is to derail the conversation. 

And that moves the discussion away from real health care reform.

More Immigrants Than Non-Immigrants are Uninsured

A memorandum by the Center for Immigration Studies finds that more immigrants than non-immigrants are uninsured. This would seem to contradict my post of yesterday that immigration is good for the economy, since providing medical care for uninsured residents tends to drive up medical costs for everyone else.

I'm looking at it a bit differently though. Many businesses that need low-skilled workers rely on immigrants to do these jobs. When there are fewer immigrants, the jobs go unfilled. Sometimes it's because citizens won't take those jobs. Immigrants tend to stick to these jobs to bring money home for the family while Americans will quit and go elsewhere to try to earn more.

But low-paying jobs mean people cannot afford to pay health insurance premiums. Oh, here's an idea! Why not develop a health care system that will provide low-cost premiums for people in low-paying jobs; get insurers to come down a bit in their premiums and partly subsidize the plan so the insured pays what they can afford. It will certainly cost less to subsidize premiums a bit, helping keep people healthy, than to pay the full cost of emergency care for serious illness brought on by lack of access to preventive health care. And this plan gets the insurance providers to share the burden.

Oh, wait -- that's what the current health care reform is all about!

Instead of seeing health care reform as government intrusion, let's look at it as another choice being put into the mix. Along with current insurance options and insurers, there would be an additional option for people who have low-paying jobs or may be long-term unemployed. Let insurers bear part of the burden, the government bear part of the burden, and the individual and company s/he works for bear part of the burden.

Small businesses could opt for a subsidized plan that covers their employees but is affordable for both the business and the individual. Why is that so threatening? Wouldn't it cost less, in the long run, to keep people healthy through preventive health care? Wouldn't business owners rather be able to say, "yes, we're small but we can provide basic health insurance."?

The current health care system has a lot of problems; rising costs -- skyrocketing costs -- among them. We need to work on containing those costs. Let's acknowledge first that among the reasons for those costs are several factors that don't improve health care (rewarding physicians for unnecessary medical procedures comes to mind) and a number of factors that are directly related to good health care or illness (research into diseases and treatments, covering medical costs for the uninsured, unhealthy lifestyles, etc.).

We need a health care system that provides preventive health care for all, shares the cost-burden among all the players as much as possible, provides incentives for good health care, eliminates excesses where they don't improve health care, and reduces costs by helping create a healthier society.

I don't know that any reform plan out there does all that. But I do believe that current reform efforts are a step in the right direction. If we move in the current reform direction, I believe we can help immigrants get health insurance, get better preventive health care, and reverse those numbers derived by the Center. And that would be good medicine in my book.

Word Cloud courtesy of Wordle

Who is Behind Health Care Misinformation?

I don't know whether these folks oppose health insurance reform due to true conscience -- and huge change of heart about government intrusion into our lives -- or if they are playing the same old, "I lost at my turn, so now I'll cheat and make sure you lose at your turn."

Either way, some of the champions behind spreading myth and misinformation are the same people who felt that Congress should step in and take over the life-or-death decision regardng Terry Schaivo about 4 years ago.

From the Huffington Post...
"Some of the same conservative figures taking potshots at Democrats for wanting to fund voluntary discussions about end-of-life decisions between doctors and their patients were leading the charge four years ago to contravene the decision by Schiavo's husband and guardian to remove the feeding tubes from his wife after she had spent 15 years in a vegetative state."
...learn more with wikipedia information on the Terry Schiavo case...

Once again, GOPers want to have it both ways. It's interesting to note, however, that their charges of government intrusion in the health insurance reform bill are actually made up, fictitious, as in not real. The language of the bill does not mandate any end-of-life decisions. The langauge does encourage and provide incentives for end-of-life discussions between physician and patient about every 5 years.

They are getting the headlines, though. And this is confusing the heck out of a lot of people, especially those with limited access to information from both sides of the issue. Who are the people with such limited access to information? Why, in many cases, they're the very people that health insurance reform is supposed to help! They're low-income elderly who don't have cable (yes, America, not everybody in America can afford even basic cable), they're homeless, or non-English speaking, and others who aren't digitally connected to high speed Internet or aren't computer savvy.

Another problem is that sorting out this misinformation takes time. I've spent many hours reading through different viewpoints and actual text of legislation. I've had the privilege of a summer intern who did some basic research for me, bookmarking websites and getting bill #s and references so I can do a more thorough review. Not too many people have that assistance. I'll do a separate post with many of those links.

Why is the GOP so intent on spreading myth and misinformation? Could it be that they have no valid reasons to fight against health insurance reform? Is this just a GOP tactic to make it difficult for Democrats to push through reform? It isn't a stretch for me to believe that. I just look at some of the other tactics they've taken over the years when it looked as Democrats might win. The "Swift Boat" attacks on John Kerry come to mind.

The GOP seems to find it easier to make things up rather than argue the facts. The sensational headlines are an easy grab, make for more media coverage, and give them air time when they have nothing real to say. Shame on them.

Health care and health insurance reform are needed. Now. Whether the President's plan is the best one to follow, it's a start in the right direction. It does not create socialized medicine, which is something so many people fear. It creates a multi-player and multi-payer system that extends health coverage to a great many people who don't have any coverage now.

Let's face it; staying healthy is less expensive than getting sick. If we can provide health care to more people, so they stay healthy, we'll have gone a long way toward fixing a broken system.

Debunking Health Care MISinformation, 2

Many people (many, many people) don't really know what's in the huge health care bill and will never read it. They rely on journalists and others to tell them what's in it and how that affects them. That's somewhat understandable. Legislation is really dry reading. And you've got to pay attention to what section and subsections you're in so that you can piece together which facts actually affect which other facts.

Which is why I'm steamed over the current health care bill. Actually, I'm steamed over the attempts by conservatives to distort the facts and misrepresent what's in the bill. The fear-mongering and scare tactics are especially cruel to people who are currently worried about health care costs and have medical issues that mean this bill will affect them very quickly when/if it passes.

A few places where you can begin fact-checking are Debunking Health Care Misinformation, which I mentioned in Monday's blog; The Washington Post (and be sure to click on related links so you can get updated articles; and the Huffington Post. You can search for more information and I'm sure you'll find many different stories out there.

That's what is so difficult about this issue; there's so many stories out there. But many of them are not true. Why is it that lies travel faster and farther than truth? Why does health care create such a ferver and bring out the worst in the GOP?

I'm going to single out Sarah Palin because she's getting a lot of attention with statements about fear of the government "pulling the plug" on her Downs Syndrome son. That's just so blatantly untrue and demonstrates her true nature. She's a sensationalist and will use anything, including her own children, to put herself into the spotlight. I'll wager that she hasn't even read the bill! And as a key figure in her state (before her resignation) and in her party (they'll use her for as long as she can grab attention), she should have read AND UNDERSTOOD every word.

We have a few more weeks that Congress is out-of-session. Let's use the time to actually research the facts about the health care bill, understand what it means for those we represent or our family members, and then expose the lies and distortions being played out across the airwaves, Internet, and newspapers. Let's help get the truth out to our families and seniors and those who don't have access to the truth. Let's talk to the staff of our legislators and find out their views on the bill.

And for those of you can stand it, get on those radio shows and debunk those myths that are being spouted by hateful, harmful people. Me, I can't stand talk radio and cannot listen for even 5 minutes, so I'd have a hard time listening long enough to call in! But if you can stomach it, go ahead and do that part.

Then, we need to inform our legislators on what we want them to do for us. We need to bring facts to them, not rhetoric. We need to bring voters to them, not lies. We need to gather the signatures of our families and people who have learned the truth and tell our legislators what we want them to vote on and how we want them to vote.

If we don't fight back, we lose; it's that simple.

Debunking Health Care Misinformation

I still have more reading to do, but this site is a great resource for getting behind the many rumors and misinformation regarding the Health Care bill.

Check it out for yourself and see what you think. I'll post more on it later, but wanted to get this resource out there, in your view.