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September 10, 2009 >> THIS IS THE TIME TO DUMP GRASSLEY:

It has to be embarrassing for the Republican Party in Iowa to admit that Senator Charles Grassley is one of their favorite sons. He may be from Iowa, but he does not represent the will of Iowans.

The Senior senator from our great State, in Winterset Iowa this past month, stupidly mouthed the falsehood, that the Health Care Reform Act, as proposed by Congress would deny Sen. Ted Kennedy proper care since he was determined to be in the stages of terminal cancer. To put it bluntly, Sen. Grassley doesn’t understand all he reads about it.

I have had the wonderful honor to serve on the Board of Trustees of Xavier Hospital and Mercy Medical Center. During my tenure, the hospitals were meticulous in formulating a policy on “End of Life” situations. Grassley purposely distorted those claims. All hospitals in Iowa were very thorough in developing an ethical and compassionate end of life policy. Chuck don’t get it.

Medicare is not and never was discussed or proposed in the reform procedure. Seniors need not worry about losing coverage.

The salient point about my writing is this. Senator Grassley is owned, lock stock and barrel by the insurance industry.

He has in his campaign accounts the following monies:

$876,084 From the Insurance Lobby
$869,825 From HMO’s
$272,629 From Hospitals and Nursing Homes
$240,090 From Health Care Professionals

This totals $1,383,420 From the ghoul lobbyists that wrote Medicare Part D drug plan. The ones that profit the most from this situation are those who manufacture Preparation”H”.

So you now know who owns Senator Grassley’s soul.

Thank the Good Lord for the Senate’s wisdom. They appointed Iowa Senator Tom Harkin to chair the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee. Senator Tom is on our side and will put forth a herculean effort to enact a fair and equitable Health Care Reform Law.

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May 1, 2009 >> TIME FOR... A WAY OUT WITH WALT EDITORIAL.

Recently, one citizen published a letter to the editor about the Obama administration, and joined Rush Limbaugh in wishing him to be a failure. TALK ABOUT POLITICAL DYSLEXIA. HE’S GOT IT BAD.

Point #1 In his first point, he criticizes the plan to revamp the health care industry. Well it certainly is out of control right now. Medicare reimbursements to Iowa are third from the bottom in the fifty states. We can’t recruit physicians due to this malady. Yet we pay the same premium as the top getters. Grassley and Nussle presided over the Medicare Modernization Act. They failed Iowa big time.

Point #2 - He Obama - wants to grow government and spend money we don’t have. Reagan, both Bushes have spent more than all of their predecessors combined. And nearly started World War Three in the process.

Point #3 - he wants to shrink the military. It's about time. The president is Commander in chief of the Armed forces of the United States. HE IS NOT THE CHIEF OF POLICE OF THE WORLD.

Point #4 - He wants to take over private business. Well Well, weren’t those businesses up to their necks in alligators, and needed Bush to start draining the swamp. Remember Bank of America, Citi Group, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were on the brink of financial collapse. Leaving them go under would have global disastrous implications.

Point#5 - He has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution (Bush ignored it) and the laws of the land. The Supreme Court ruled abortion legal. I don’t like it either, but we have to live with it. Bush never tried to reverse Roe v Wade.

Point#6 - He wants Congress to raise taxes. Well Bush, Gingrich and crew cut taxes for the big money boys. Look what happened. The economy nearly collapsed and the fat cats still maintained their avarice and greed. Their ethics reflect the thinking of the devil.

Point#7- He wants to make contracts with other countries. Well Geo. W. Had every other country torked off at us for Iraq. Someone had to make peace. Get your head out of your trousers.

Point #8 - He wants to give amnesty to illegal aliens. Amnesty is a lot more humane than the cost and angst of deporting them.

Point #9 - You call global warming an unproven hysteria. You are a good example for the need of better educational systems.

Some of the other points in your letter are too dumb to comment on.

The nation was in worse shape when Bush left the White House, than it was when Gen. George Washington swore in as our first president.

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April 17, 2009

TIME FOR A WAY OUT WITH WALT EDITORIAL.

Recently, I spoke to the Democratic Central Committee about a nostalgic trip down memory lane in Dubuque.

Start at Fulton School. Drive to 20th St. and turn left onto Rhomberg Ave. Proceed to the 1400 block of Rhomberg and observe Marshall School, continue to the 2000 block of Rhomberg and turn left onto Shiras Av.  Enter Eagle Point Park. Drive slow and soak up the beauty of the Bridge Room, Restaurant Room and the Indian Room. All are made of native limestone, and designed by a architect mentored by Frank Lloyd Wright.

After viewing those beautiful buildings(which were awe inspiring to Elenore Roosevelt) proceed to the Shiras Memorial. Looking downriver, observe a city owned and operated swimming pool. Then look north and watch the towboats navigate through ock and Dam #11

• In 1933 – 1939 several Federal Grants were awarded to the city of Dubuque and the Corps of Engineers to construct these magnificent edifices. They were products of the WPA, President Franklin d. Roosevelt’s version of the Obama stimulus plan.

• Lock and Dam #11 was one of many built during the Great Depression to stimulate the economy and to provide dependable navigation of the Mississippi river from New Orleans to St. Paul. That particular program provided work, and paychecks for many out of work Dubuquers, including my own father.

• Fulton School – Marshall School – Bryant School and Lincoln School were also examples of WPA Grants to Dubuque.

• Municipal Pool was another example. Due to age, it was replaced with Sutton Pool in the 1990’s.

• In Obama’s Stimulus bill, Federal withholding was reduced, giving wage earners a tax cut, the State Legislature is attempting to do the same, with its repeal if the Federal Income Tax deduction, which gives all wage earners, making under $125,000 a year a sizeable break. The Obama bill also includes a one time payment of $250 to those on Social Security. This could amount to $500 per household.

• For eight years, President Bush cut taxes for the upper echelon. It was supposed to enhance the economy. Well it failed. He broke the Banks and mortgage businesses. After he attempted to bail them out, he left office and blamed Obama. A real hypocrite he is.

• One thing that has come full circle, is the exporting of jobs to third world countries, who exploit humanity by keeping the workforce in abject poverty. This might be the goal of the Republican Party too. We now have reached that point in unemployment, that none of the middle class has the financial resources to buy anything, or meet their housing payments.

• The Stimulus bill focuses on a few important points. Lowering the middle class tax burden, putting Americans back to work and redeveloping our country’s infrastructure, as opposed to more military spending.

• Tea Parties are the work of the devil, and will not aid in the resolution of our nation’s problems.

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Now that the Legislature has adjourned for 2008, the many “newspapers” in the State have taken it upon themselves to critique the session and the leadership of both parties. Some have used their first amendment privileges as a bully pulpit.

The ban on smoking became a passionate subject during the session. A great deal of money was spent on lobbying. Big tobacco and the gaming industry dominated the statehouse during the session, twisting arms to get their wishes. A compromise was struck, and like it or not, those places the average person frequents has been legislated as smoke free. This writer has not and does not frequent casinos, let alone the gaming rooms. However, I do appreciate having restaurants, meeting halls etc. kept smoke free. It is a incontrovertible fact. Smoking causes major sickness in humans, and at a terrific cost. Like non regulation of firearms, if certain controls are not in place, innocent people suffer. Humanity won on that issue.

Critical care hospitals is another issue bandied around the journalistic world. Has anyone in the emergency medical field ever educated the media about the golden hour in cases of trauma, and the four minute rule in heart emergencies? Also, with our system of checks and balances, a community could not build such a facility without following the precepts previously laid out by our forefathers. Subdivisions of government cannot incur a debt or bond without securing authorization from the electorate. Where is the hurt? This law enables communities to approach the subject easier. Unlike Finley Hospital which, through its trustees abrogated its responsibility by allowing Iowa Health Systems to operate the facility. What kind of a hornet’s nest did that stir up?

Talk about abrogating responsibility. A group of loose cannons under the 527 cloak of calling themselves the IOWA PROGRESS PROJECT, purchased several full page ads in local papers to admonish the legislative leadership for adopting HF 2645. The ad is ambagious to say the least. It says that the bill guts Iowa’s “bi-partisan labor laws.” What an oxymoron. The Iowa Democrat party has always been very much in favor of union’s right to collective bargaining.
Big unions are accused of teaming with Democrats to rush this bill through. Wake up folks. Unions have traditionally been members of the Democrat Party for centuries. They petitioned for justice, and HF 2645 enables that. Remember checks and balances. The real protesters are the $100,000 + a year school supt.’s who usually don’t negotiate contracts. They hire big gun legal experts to do it for them. Teachers play a big role in forming the minds of our children. Why are we reducing them to a class below other divisions of organized labor. They have the right to redress in instances of discipline and working conditions.

Last but not least. The clause in the Medicaid bill that exempts Finley hospital from the bonus reimbursement is not revenge. It covers all hospitals participating in Medicare in Iowa. One is being lead to believe that Finley is squeaky clean. No way folks. Remember the vice president of their union. She was fired because she was interviewed by the press. Another was disciplined for complaining about an electrical short in a piece of equipment. Another was fired because she did some nursing in private homes on her off duty hours. Several patients have legitimate complaints about substandard care. Upon observing this, Speaker Murphy included redress in the Medicaid bill that would address this kind of situation. Some call it revenge, I call it leadership.

Several years ago, I complained to our City Council about the traffic on my street. My neighbors supported this complaint. After listening to this problem, the City Council ordered speed limit signs installed and monitored the traffic for some time. That is what the First Amendment provides. We can petition our government for redress to grievances. It works and Pat Murphy should not be admonished for it.

You may be the next patient to experience a bad time at an ER. At least there would be a small incentive for hospitals to be more alert.

Public hearings in the Legislature are not easily accessible by the average voter. Des Moines is 180 miles away and most of the sessions are in the winter. Travel can be questionable. Also it takes more than 60 votes to pass any bill. Are all of those who voted in favor guilty of a rush rush job?

If we are using our editorial prowess to draw attention to legislation, lets take a look at our Congressional contingent.

Iowa is third from the bottom in Medicare reimbursements. Every citizen enrolled in the Medicare program across the 50 states pays the same premium. Why such an inequity?

Sen. Charles Grassley, and Rep. Jim Nussle were in the drivers seat as Senate Finance chair. And House Budget chair. when the Medicare Modernization Act was enacted. In previous years Chuck and Jim voted to increase reimbursement to large states like New York, leaving Iowa at the bottom. Physician talent is leaving Iowa because of this. Iowa City had to cut its budget causing a few expert surgeons to leave Iowa. Where were the editorials then. To add insult to injury, Grassley and Nussle had a majority from their party controlling Congress, and their President in the White House. Things have regressed so bad, that a group of Iowa physicians has filed a law suit, against the Center For Medicare Services for equity in the situation.

It is obvious that BIG BUSINESS has endeavored to squelch middle class Americans to the point of poverty.

Don’t blame the so called big unions. What union was involved in Enron, Arthur Anderson, or most recently Bear Stearns? If a union does it, is it corrupt? If a chamber of commerce does it, is it ok? Your vote in November can start the change. Think about it.

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