It Takes A Village – VNV Tuesday: We Are Dems/Work Those Phones Day! 7/25/17

July 25, 2017 DoReMI Democratic Party Values, Editors' Choice, Fighting Back, It Takes a Village 16
Knowing who we are is half the battle...
Let’s kick some ass today!

BEFORE ANYTHING, CALL YOUR SENATORS TODAY! DEM OR REPUBLICAN, THEY NEED TO HEAR FROM US.

IF YOU HAVE ONE OF THE “CRITICAL” SENATORS, HERE ARE SOME RESOURCES FOR YOU:

REMEMBER, YOU’RE NOT WORKING ALONE.

TWO ISSUES IN ONE CALL…PARTICULARLY IF YOU’RE WONDERING IF IT’S WORTH CALLING YOUR (D) SENATOR; WHO DOESN’T LIKE EXTRA CREDIT?

IN THE MOOD TO TALK TO YOUR HOUSE REP FOR A CHANGE? SCROLL DOWN TO “EVERYTHING ELSE THIS WEEK” FOR SUGGESTIONS.

WANT A REMINDER AS TO WHY LETTING REPUBLICANS DETERMINE HEALTHCARE POLICY IS A BAD IDEA? COMPARE THE PLATFORMS…(you knew I’d slip this in here somehow!)
Healthcare-related topics in the Democratic platform that are absent from the Republican platform:
1. Community Health Centers

We must renew and expand our commitment to Community Health Centers, as well as community mental health centers and family planning centers. These health centers provide critically important, community-based prevention and treatment in underserved communities, prevent unnecessary and expensive trips to emergency rooms, and are essential to the successful implementation of the ACA. We will fight for a comprehensive system of primary health care, including dental, mental health care, and low-cost prescription drugs by doubling of funding for federally qualified community health centers over the next decade, which currently serve 25 million people.

  1. Reducing Prescription Drug Costs

…We will crack down on price gouging by drug companies and cap the amount Americans have to pay out-of-pocket every month on prescription drugs. We will prohibit anti-competitive “pay for delay” deals that keep generic drugs off the market, and we will allow individuals, pharmacists, and wholesalers to import prescription drugs from licensed pharmacies in Canada and other countries with appropriate safety protections. Democrats will also fight to make sure that Medicare will negotiate lower prices with drug manufacturers.

  1. Combating Drug and Alcohol Addiction (actually, Republicans do address this, notably under the heading “Combatting Drug Abuse” [emphasis mine])

… The Democratic Party is committed to assisting the estimated 20 million people struggling with addiction in this country to find and sustain healthy lives by encouraging full recovery and integration into society and working to remove common barriers to gainful employment, housing, and education. We will continue to fight to expand access to care for addiction services, and ensure that insurance coverage is equal to that for any other health conditions. We think it is time for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Labor, and state regulatory agencies to fully implement the protections of the Mental Health Parity and Addictions Equity Act of 2008—which means that American medical insurers, including the federal government, will need to disclose how they make their medical management decisions.

  1. Supporting Those Living with Autism and Their Families

Democrats believe that our country must make supporting the millions of individuals with autism and those diagnosed in the future and their families a priority. We will conduct a nationwide early screening outreach campaign to ensure that all children, and in particular children from underserved backgrounds, can get screened for autism. We will expand services and support for adults and individuals transitioning into adulthood, including employment and housing assistance. And we will push states to require health insurance coverage for autism services in private insurance plans as well as state marketplaces so that people with autism are not denied care.

  1. Ensuring Long-Term Care, Services, and Supports (yes, technically Republicans address this, in terms of Medicaid, which they call “the next frontier of welfare reform” with block grants as their “solution.”)

…Democrats will take steps to strengthen and expand the home care workforce, give seniors and people with disabilities access to quality, affordable long-term care, services, and supports, and ensure that all of these resources are readily available at home or in the community.

  1. Protecting and Promoting Public Health

Investment in our nation’s crumbling public health infrastructure is critical to ensuring preparedness for emerging threats; for preventing disease, illness, and injury in communities; and for promoting good health and wellbeing. Inadequate access to public health services has a disparate impact on poor, rural, and minority communities where public health services are a significant source of health care. Democrats will fight for increased investments in public health to better address emerging threats and the needs across our country. To further that end, the Democratic Party will continue to oppose Republican attempts to cut public health services and funding. We will ensure adequate funding of public health education at the undergraduate, graduate, and medical school levels as well as adequate funding of residency training programs in public health, preventive medicine, and its subspecialties.

  1. Ending Violence Against Women

Democrats are committed to ending the scourge of violence against women wherever it occurs —whether in our homes, streets, schools, military, or elsewhere. We will continue to support the Violence Against Women Act to provide law enforcement with the tools it needs to combat this problem. We will support comprehensive services for survivors of violence and increase prevention efforts in our communities and on our campuses. Democrats will fight to bring an end to sexual assault—wherever it occurs, including on campuses— because everyone deserves a safe environment where they can learn and thrive, not live in fear. We will provide comprehensive support to survivors, and ensure a fair process for all on-campus disciplinary proceedings and in the criminal justice system. We will increase sexual violence prevention education programs that cover issues like consent and bystander intervention, not only in college, but also in secondary school.

  1. Preventing Gun Violence

To build on the success of the lifesaving Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, we will expand and strengthen background checks and close dangerous loopholes in our current laws; repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to revoke the dangerous legal immunity protections gun makers and sellers now enjoy; and keep weapons of war—such as assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines (LCAM’s)—off our streets. We will fight back against attempts to make it harder for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to revoke federal licenses from law breaking gun dealers, and ensure guns do not fall into the hands of terrorists, intimate partner abusers, other violent criminals, and those with severe mental health issues. There is insufficient research on effective gun prevention policies, which is why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must have the resources it needs to study gun violence as a public health issue.

If Republicans won’t even address these important issues in their platform, do we really want them determining the future of healthcare in our country?

Happy Tongue-Out Tuesday (who knew?)!

About DoReMI 165 Articles
Now a Michigander, by way of Ohio, Illinois, Scotland, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. Gardener. Sewer. Democrat. Resister.

16 Comments

  1. Good morning, Pond Dwellers. Thanks for the double duty, DoReMi. I can’t quit thinking about the POUTS complaining that Sessions isn’t investigating Hillary’s ties to mother Russia (we know it’s hot air and deflecting). Has anybody told him that it’s not illegal if you’re not president? What an ijit. Well, today is the day. Of course, this bill is like the killer in any low budget horror movie…it keeps popping back up. Let’s cut its head off and be done with it.

    62 right now and only getting to 93 today. Perfect “walking the puppies” weather. Now, I need to drink the coffee I poured at the ????.

    • only getting to 93 today

      In my world, using “only” in that sentence is just wrong…!

      And in T***pworld, it’s il/legal if he says it’s il/legal; fortunately, we’re not so far gone that it matters to the courts or the DOJ. Unfortunately, we’re in the battle of our lives to keep it that way.

      And I just noticed that the numbering in this post is all wrong, which is weird. I type my cross-posts here and then copy and paste them to DK. At DK, the numbering is correct. So, this one is due to WordPress Mischief Elves, not me. It feels nice to be able to say that for once this morning!

      • ????One is the loneliest number???? I hadn’t noticed until you mentioned it. ????

      • 93 and then back to triple digits for the next 8 days or more. So, “just 93” is almost chilly.

  2. {{{DoReMI}}} – thanks for the double duty. I’ve called my senators, both of them, both DC and local offices. I’m happy to report I not only couldn’t get through to their DC offices, their voicemail boxes are full. I did reach Cotton’s local office voicemail box and left a message. I actually talked to a staffer for Boozman and left a message with her. Considering who my senators are… – and no comment on J. McCain.

    I’m happy to see your inclusion of Hillary’s progressive healthcare policy platform that not only the Extreme Left but our “leadership” like ol’ chucky denies exist. Like tweets and videos, Hillary’s platform is on the internet and the internet is forever. Too bad reading is hard. Maddening that even our own team thinks reading is just too hard, and pretending it’s not there to read is so much easier. But white male privilege… (yeah, I’m getting pretty sick of it too.) If I was on twitter/had a twitter following, I think I’d tweet out a “bullet point a day” – including and especially to our “Dem Leadership” – until I got the whole platform out there. Then start over.

    Gotta get to work. moar {{{HUGS}}}

    • Hmmm, that bullet point idea is awesome. I may just have to co-opt it and make it my own…but not today. Too much on my plate (why, oh why, do I continually create new “projects” for myself?!) for the day, but there’s always tomorrow!

  3. Afternoon Sher..Thank you for another great thread….I don’t think they’re going to pass it today…The result of them passing it would be the death knell for the midterms for the assholes…I’d bet most of the trumpers have no idea that the Cons will actually take away their healthcare…They’re that stupid…Calling and getting no answers…just filled voicemail but that’s not surprising as Florida has a lot of senior citizens that will be greatly affected.

    • I hope you’re right; I fear you’re not. The one thing I’d love to see (in my perfect world of sane Republicans and saner policy) is for McCain to vote no on the MTP and bring it all down. Unfortunately, that would also probably mean he’s on death’s door, and I don’t think he’s there yet.

    • That comment didn’t age well…MTP passes. It was 50-50 so guess Pence broke the tie.

  4. Hi Meese! Thank you DoReMI for the great post, and for posting it here and DK.

    Master Wufei is having issues, therefore so am I. Might be scarce but I’ll try and get a post up tomorrow.

    Love to the Village ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

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