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11/6/09
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Unions call for Michaud to back health care bill
Michaud
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ELLSWORTH, Maine — Union leaders in Maine are calling on U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud to endorse a health care bill recently introduced in the House of Representatives.
The bill, called Affordable Health Care for America Act, was unveiled in the House last week. The House is expected to vote on the bill on Saturday afternoon or evening.
Michaud has expressed reservations about earlier versions of the bill, HR 3962, saying that he wants to know how resulting cuts in Medicare would affect Mainers.
He also has indicated that he is concerned about low federal reimbursement rates that already negatively affect Maine’s overall health care system.
“The congressman strongly supports health care reform and listens to all sides when deciding on how to vote on a bill,” Michaud’s spokesman, Ed Gilman, indicated Thursday in an e-mail. “He continues to work on these issues on a daily basis and is hopeful that they’ll be addressed in the final bill.”
Michaud said that any bill would have to include a government-funded public option for him to support it.
Leaders with various unions in Maine said Thursday, however, that Mainers cannot afford to wait any longer for meaningful health care reform.
While commending Michaud for pledging support for a public option, the union leaders said HR 3962 is the right bill to support. It would boost Medicare prescription drug coverage for 8,100 older residents of Michaud’s congressional district, they indicated during a conference call with reporters. As it now stands, 14 percent of people who live in the 2nd District do not have health insurance because they cannot afford it, they said.
“There’s no reason not to support this bill,” said Patrick Carlton, a worker at the Sappi paper mill in Skowhegan and a member of the United Steelworkers union. “It’s time to stop wasting time on politics and to vote in favor of this bill.”
The labor leaders, who also included Marianne von Nordeck of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and Maine AFL-CIO President Ed Gorham, said the bill would benefit pulp and paper mill workers. It would allow millworkers to retire before they are eligible for Medicare and would create job openings for younger Mainers looking for work, they said. Before he was elected to Congress, Michaud worked at a paper mill in East Millinocket.
The union representatives criticized groups that have opposed efforts in Congress to make health care more affordable. “There has been a tremendous amount of misinformation and lies meant to scare older Americans about this health care bill,” von Nordeck said.
On the other side of the issue, another group pressured Michaud on Thursday to vote against HR 3962.
In a prepared statement released Thursday, Americans for Limited Government called the bill “the Hard Left’s attempt to take over the nation’s entire health care system.” The group said that Tuesday’s elections, in which Republican governors were elected in New Jersey and Virginia, show that Americans are wary about “excessive government spending and taxes.”
On Tuesday, Maine voters rejected a statewide proposal to place tighter spending restrictions on state and local budgets.
“It’s time for Congressman Michaud to abandon ship if he wants to keep his job,” Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson said in the release. “The American people do not want more government; they are trying desperately to get government off their backs and out of their pockets.”
Maine’s other House member, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, is in favor of the bill, according to her spokesman. Willy Ritch said that Pingree is the only member of Maine’s congressional delegation who has been consistently supportive of House proposals that include public options. The House Rules committee, which Pingree sits on, is expected to hold a hearing on the bill at 2 p.m. today before the House votes on it on Saturday, he said.
“She’s a strong supporter of it and intends to vote for it,” Ritch said.
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Give us all the sane benefits your getting Mike !
This health bill is NOT about health care.. it's about bailing out all the nations union underwater health care funds. Friends, It's all about money.
The decision Michaud makes will once and for all show the kind of stuff he is made of.....Will he vote like a Man or be bullied by the Unions? One thing is for sure , I would not want to be in his shoes right now.
Don't fool yourself. Michaud is a socialist union liberal lapdog. He would destroy anything and anyone to keep his extreme leftist policies and cronies in power. Of course he will support the health bill. Has he yet seen a spending bill he did not support??? He and his party are destroying this country faster than a turd can stink. SPEND SPEND SPEND SPEND.....Sell out your country as fast as you can. It is only money, the government can print more. Prop up the unions on the backs of every other working man. There once was a need for unions in this country, but now they are a blight on our society, and are one of the principle reasons this country is no longer competitive. "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Ben Franklin's quote is applicable to financial security also.
Michaud is just like almost ALL the politicians on both sides of the Isle.
All he cares about is getting re-elected. Period
There is an alternative to Michaud. Jason Levesque, a dad, a business owner and a veteran. Michaud is not a "blue dog" with his vote on cap and trade and his eventual vote for this health care bill he is a lap dog of Nancy Pelosi. I am suprised he doesnt have a big sign on his back side that says
INSERT HAND HERE....if he just puppets what Pelosi spews what good is he? He votes party line 95% of the time.
For those interested.....not to confuse state politics with federal politics......but going on the premise that many people in the second district can not afford health insurance...Maine Republicans submitted a bill this last session that would of allowed people to shop across state lines to get insurance. It was voted down on party lines by the democrats...................(who have been in control for 38 years) time for them all to go.
Chicky has it right!!!! As it relates to the Unions, they have not figured out that by backing this bill,they will continue to move more jobs overseas....they do not get it..
Do any of you know what Rep. Michaud has been objecting to in the health care reform? It is because with this bill , doctors and rural health care will get paid much much less from federal reimbursements.Most of ME is rural. Just because something is new and shiny, does not mean it is good.
I would like to see ME get Universal Health Care like all the rest of industrialised countries. The new health care bill . rewards insurance compainies and health care industry , NOT US.
Gee...doctors in rural states get less medicare and medicaid reimbursement because GOVERNMENT runs them. We already have single payer...its called DIRIGO...hows that working out for those who can not enroll because it can not be funded????? The rest of the industrialized countries have NO MILITARY to speak of and gas costs 9 bucks a gallon. They also take immigrants......just a suggestion.
speaking of rewards from heath care industries, Michaud would know all about that as he is like in the top 20 for contributions from healthcare and the insurance industry. It might be nice if people would actually research these things on their own instead of just puppeting what they hear Pelosi and the democrats spout. The democrats have a majority....they can pass anything they want. BRING IT and on your head be it! Universal health care is a socialists wet dream........for petes sake do not assist them in turning this country into a socialist country.
I also feel bad for the regular working Union member who is forced to pay dues and then has their dues turned over to the democrat party. You realize that Mike Michaud spends alot of time attempting to Unionize SOUTH AMERICA right? google it. This will be good for the Union bosses, but not good for the union workers once their jobs all go to South America. He needs to go. Elect Jason Levesque....he is a dad and can see the world through his kids eyes, something Michaud can not do. We in the second district are very very close to losing our representation in DC because there are no jobs here and the population is dwindling. If we do not act now, in ten years when they do the census again we will have NO representation and district 2 will be a thing of the past. www.levesqueformaine.com if you have ten bucks give him a donation. He is going to need the help to combat all the lobby money that Michaud gets.
Union=MAFIA
Don't fool yourself. Michaud is a socialist union liberal lapdog. He would destroy anything and anyone to keep his extreme leftist policies and cronies in power.
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The union bashers are out in full force this AM . Unions are part of democracy . It was Wall Street and the healthcare system that that put the economy down the tiolet and is over near China now . Heathcare is a basic human right and hearing of the abuses of the heathcare industry and the insurance is a national disgrace in the U.S.
we do not live in a "democracy" we live in a republic. I like union members...union bosses, not so much. let me guess which one you are??
Ok, ok, we are a republic, which means that we don't have a monarchy. True. But we also have many democratic characteristics - probably as many as any major country in the world today.
nope, being a republic we have a charter. that charter is the constitution. anything coming after that does not supercede the charter.
that said. Mike Michaud is a weasel and should be removed from office so he can retire to the he camps owns with Martin and sit back and suck up carbon credits on the trees they jointly own.
re·pub·lic definition:
Function: noun
Etymology: French république, from Middle French republique, from Latin respublica, from res thing, wealth + publica, feminine of publicus public — more at real, public
Date: 1604
1 a (1) : a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president (2) : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government b (1) : a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law (2) : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government c : a usually specified republican government of a political unit
2 : a body of persons freely engaged in a specified activity
3 : a constituent political and territorial unit of the former nations of Czechoslovakia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or Yugoslavia
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/republic
Please support this bill, Representative Michaud. Ignore the insults listed above.
chicky~~Dirigo is not a Single Payer system.
Dirigo is more like what the Dems are pushing on us all.
A single payer system is easy to google
A single payer the way I understand it, is everyone pays into it. Not just some like Dirigo.
And when you say healthcare industries do you mean hospitals or do you mean like Pharma Corps and other supplies to hospital. that be a big difference.
Universal Health care is the same as Medicare. And if Medicare was not stripped of its moneys to be used to balance the budget all the time you mite see a difference in what is and what could be.
Maybe a little to much Rush for you and a little more balance in you live mite let you see the light of day.
The right government health plan run right should be alot more affordible then the Status Qua of today.
Try listening to a wide range of opinions instead of just sprouting off what you think is right.
Just my humble advice that is married to a healthcare nurse for 30 years.
Yes Rep. Michaud is for a universal healthcare as I have e=mailed him about.
But there are so many different types.
So he is not supporting this one.
That would be taking care of us.
it is not always about all or nothing
but in this case I think it is until they come up with something for ALL of Us.
Don`t you people understand that or do you just like to hate.
All of you folks who oppose health care reform are cooperating in your own suppression. Yes it is all about money; the INSURANCE Industry has spent over $263 million in Lobbying against Health care reform, and over $60 million in advertising against it, just since the beginning of the summer ! Stop for a moment and question why they would do this. Think people.
chicky, I agree with you. Let people shop nationwide for health insurance, just like you do for car insurance. Then the free market process takes over and guess what? Health care insurance premiums come down in price! All this health care bruhaha is unneccesary and will erode personal liberty. It makes government too powerfull. And please note, all of Congress took less than 5 minutes to vote themselves exempt from what they have offered us to date. What does that tell you-"well it's good enough for the peons but I"m not doing it !" They will make a mess of this just like they do everything else. They are polititians, not medical experts, not business experts. This will be just as corrupt as medicare, medicaid, social security, national deficit, so on and so on and so on. What's the big deal with allowing poeple to shop nationwide for health insurance anyway? Why are insuance companies allowed to have monopolies in the state(s) they cover? Whose palms are getting greased that allows this? I would really like to know.
ElectraGlide: I called Mike Michaud's office today and actually got to talk with a real person, a real nice young man. I am sure they got deluged with calls and emails. They take your name if you care to give it. I like what you wrote about listening to a wide range of opinions, etc. You make a lot of sense to me much of the time, and enjoy your authentic way of expressing your views. You are one of a kind on here and it is refreshing.
It seems to me that a lot of the comments on this story that are against health care reform are using the same scare tactic type of misinformation that the insurance lobbyist and extreme right wing talk show host have used in campaigning against the bill and are simply spam.
They all sound very similar and are possibly being posted by the same person or couple of persons.
Lets remeber an overwhelming majority of the people in Maine and in the country support health care reform and a majority of them also support a strong public option.
Several of the comments specifically mention a potential competitor for Michauds seat in congress, Jason Levesque. Levesque's candidacy for congress is irrelevant to the story and I wouldn't be surprised if it was him or someone working for him that is spamming the comment section of this article. All comments with positive references to him should be removed.
Westie,
How much have the unions spent on campaigns and lobbying....billions
flat_lander; It's easy to just throw out an unspecified amount. It's like two kids fighting with "Yes you did," "No I didn't," "Yes, you did." There is simply no substance to your argument.
Why chersully2000~~~I like you stuff to as it is backed with alot of emotional impact.
I suppose old forHimtoday is going to accuse us of hooking up.
Yu can not even be like minded people w /o somone thinking they know something.
^red^ and ^str^
ElectraGlide: You have a lot of insight, along with some interesting philosophizing. At least I , for one, appreciate it and I am sure there are others who do too.
Yes, it seems that now that this gay marriage vote is over (at least for now) that some of the more regular posters seem to have disappeared. Guess they feel they got it done. Who knows! But, it really is far from over. Maybe a reprieve, but this sure is not the end of it in this country. And the U.S. Supreme Court rulings would supercede any amendment that Maine might come up with, but I don't think that amendment would happen in Maine anyway like the Yes on 1 people want.
I have been surprised (well, I should not have been surprised on this forum!) by some of the comments by a few posters about your posts.,etc. I guess they must be superficial or not very perceptive, as you say some really wise things quite often. Don't they know you don't judge a book by its cover! Well, I don't mean they know you or anything, but they did not seem able to see all that you said and instead just looked at part of it. Well, you know what I mean. I have seen that with some of the posters. They seem to be the first to criticize.....and boy, they sure do not seem so perfect!
we need a national health care system devoleped or it will be take this pill and jump into your hole
cherfully~~alot of the negative posters i understand. They are not much different the abused kids and the acting behaviors they use to get attention.
I worked w / kids for ten years. Using bullets to try to get to them to think about what they are doing is very rewarding. But as you know it takes time to see results. Sometime it is a fast result and sometime it takes years to show.
Using real live experiences, coralations to real live, a look in the mirrow or just letting them explode and take care of them until the anger of there abuse subsides. They usually always come out of it with more insight.
There are many bullets to make someone thing other than just using writen facts.
It takes emotion and facts most times to get people to respond. I feel that getting 49% of the vote was great. Would of loved to have gotten 58%.
But I know that there is no give up in this crowd and everyone is effective in there own way, if the person is receptive to change. If not well there is always another day. Looking forward to those days and seeing and feeling the Pride in doing the right dang thang.
No finer feelin than waking up in the morning and flatout going for it. see ya gator ^red^^str^
ElectraGlide: Yes, the "act tough" exterior which sometimes escalates to bullying. They (some posters,etc.) "think" that is what makes them a real man or whatever. Think again. And yes, the bid for attention in a negative manner. Maybe they do not know how to get it any other way. Don't they know how foolish it makes them look sometimes.
Many good things in life do not come easily, and it does often take time to see the better results. That applies to a lot of situations including this recent vote in Maine. It is difficult for those whose lives and families are affected by it to show patience and to also to have to hear some make light (or even worse) of what they experience. I would not feel good about being in that place or role.(being the one telling others that they should not be who they are) . It is not my place to tell someone else what they should do in their private personal lives and vice versa.
If the unions back you, run away. The unions of today do nothing unless there's something in it for them. Unfortunately, AARP is the same way.
chersully2000~~nice talking to you as uaual, but you have said several X`s that this issue doesn`t really impact you. You have said it in several different ways.
But you like me, that care about people maybe more then others do . It does impact our lives alot. More then I think you give credit for the impact to you. And shown by the effort you put into taken care of peoples rights and there feeling. ^red^str/m^
EJParsons~~~Agreed~~8:56pm
I see Chersully and Electraglide are still crying over spilled milk.
Don't you know, you shouldn't do that??
LOL
Grow up, dirtbag !
no electraglide....single payer means that the government pays for health care using tax money. they would be the "single payer" of all medical claims. still think its a good idea?? how about jailing those that cant afford health care or choose not to have any? how about a mandate that you must buy health insurance???? thats not constitutional. something we should all worry about.