V1 N9 Nye-gateway To Nevada's Rurals Newsletter

September 12, 2009

Vol 1 No 9

Nye-Gateway to Nevada‟s Rurals Newsletter P o l i t i c a l

N e w s

a n d

C o m m e n t a r y

A AR P : T h e As s a u l t o n Tr u t h

Inside Grassley defends his “pull the plug on grandma” remarks

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President’s speech to Congress–transcript

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Republican Joe Wilson’s Lie

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Social Justice and American Character

Thousands of downtown DC protesters blast

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Congress just can’t get any respect

Advertisements

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Upcoming Events

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Now it‟s getting down and dirty. As expected, the gloves are off in President Obama‟s push for health care reform. Democrats and Republicans are battling over how to fix a system they all agree is broken—that‟s how Congress is supposed to work. But this summer something new has entered the political arena—a tsunami of rumors, myths, fearmongering and misinform a t i o n a b o u t the proposals that surges around the Internet in nanoseconds. “I‟m totally confused about what‟s going on,” one reader wrote to the AARP Bulletin. “How do I know who to believe?”

other is how this new phenomenon—the ability to spread misleading information at rapid speed through chain e-mails, blogs, text-messaging and “tweets”—will affect the reform debate. “What we‟re seeing is a flood of viral content that distorts the Obama effort to reform health care,” says Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, who runs FactCheck.org, a website that examines specious claims from all sides of the political spectrum. “Extremists and people who are so locked

into their own ideology that they‟ll distort anything have been out there forever,” she adds. “But they haven‟t had a way to reach out to as many people as efficiently as they have now.” The rise of the Internet and the decline of the mainstream press as a prime source of information is a factor. Read more.

It is a good question. An-

N e v a d a :

C h i l d

S u p p o r t

C o l l e c t i o n

A Nevada state task force is looking at ways to improve the collection of delinquent child support payments after a legislative audit found deficiencies.

near the bottom of the nation in payment collection. Last year the state collected about 52 percent of the paym ents owed. The national average is about 61 percent.

Nevada consistently ranks

“The last ranking I saw

“ a b y s m a l ”

for Nevada in child support enforcement was 54th, ranking us even lower than the territory of Guam,” said Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, DReno. “To say our child support enforce-

ment system is broken is not accurate. It‟s beyond abysmal.” Nevada, in many ways, is about as modern as some third world countries we read about and see on TV. Read more.

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Nye-Gateway to Nevada‟s Rurals

G r a s s l e y

In reality, the so-called „death panel provision,‟ Section 1233 of the House Tri Committee bill, would allow Medicare to reimburse providers for consulting with patients about end-of-life issues; nothing in the section mandates a consultation. In fact, the provision builds on Presi-

d e f e n d s h i s “ p u l l t h e g r a n d m a ” r e m a r k s

dent Bush‟s efforts to expand Medicare coverage to “counseling the beneficiary with respect to end-of-life issues and care options” for terminally ill patients. In 2003, Grassley voted in favor of the provision as part of Bush‟s Medicare drug bill.

o n

brain tumor that Sen. Kennedy has — because he‟s 77 years old — would not be treated the way it‟s treated in the United States. In other words, he would not get the care he gets here because of his age.” Watch the video. Read Sen. Chuck Grassley more.

“I‟ve been told that the

P r e s i d e n t ’ s

s p e e c h

t o

When I spoke here last winter, this nation was facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. We were losing an average of 700,000 jobs per month. Credit was frozen. And our financial system was on the verge of collapse.

C o n g r e s s – t r a n s c r i p t

still looking for work or a way to pay their bills will tell you, we are by no means out of the woods. A full and vibrant recovery is still many months away. And I will not let up until those Americans who seek jobs can find them — (applause) — until those businesses that seek capital and credit can thrive; until all reAs any American who is sponsible homeowners can

R e p u b l i c a n He is usually known as “Lyin‟ Joe Wilson,” aka Joe Wilson (born July 31, 1947). He is a Republican politician from the state of South Carolina, currently representing the state‟s 2nd congressional district, in the U.S. House of Representatives. The dis-

p l u g

J o e

trict is based in the state capital, Columbia, and stretches to the resort towns of Beaufort and Hilton Head Island. He yelled at President Obama “You lie,” during his speech to the joint session of Congress. Wilson yelled out after

stay in their homes. That is our ultimate goal. But thanks to the bold and decisive action we‟ve taken since January, I can stand here with confidence and say that we have pulled this economy back from the brink. So began President Obama‟s speech to the joint session of Congress. Read it all.

W i l s o n ’s President Obama assured the American people that illegal immigrants would not be covered in the health care reform. FactCheck.org on August 28, 2009 maintains that illegal immigrants are not covered, calling the allegation “not true.”

L i e Read more.

Joe Wilson (R-SC)

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Vol 1 No 9

S o c i a l

j u s t i c e a n d c h a r a c t e r

When President Obama addressed the joint session of Congress he cited the moral issue inherent in the current health care reform struggle. Quoting the late Senator Ted Kennedy, he said:

ter of our country.” Just what is the “character of America?” There are, I think, two views: How do we see ourselves? How do others see us? Like art, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We who live here see the American character in one light. Others, who live elsewhere, see it differently. Objectivity can be questioned because of the differ-

“What we face,” he wrote, “is above all a moral issue; at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the charac-

T h o u s a n d s Tens of thousands of protesters fed up with government spending marched to the U.S. Capitol on Saturday, showing their disdain for the president's health care plan with slogans such as "Obamacare makes me sick" and "I'm not your ATM." The

line

of

protesters

o f

Representative Joe Wilson‟s outburst is helping hold down public approval of Congress at the moment, the fact is that Americans, at least as reflected in polls and other studies, typically see the institution in a relatively poor light. Contempt for Congress

ent cultural and life experiences of the individual viewer. The American Studies at the University of Virginia is as good a starting point as any to begin exploring the character of America. Read what others have said about our character. You may be surprised. Read more.

d o w n t o w n D C b l a s t O b a m a

clogged several blocks near capitol, according to the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency. Demonstrators chanted "enough, enough" and "We the People." Others yelled "You lie, you lie!" and "Pelosi has to go," referring to House

C o n g r e s s

n a t i o n a l

j u s t

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D -Calif. Other signs - reflecting the growing intensity of the health care debate depicted P r es i d e n t Barack Obama with the signature mustache of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Many made reference to

c a n ’ t

is practically an American tradition, notes the Times, citing health care fight and improprieties of Nevada‟s Senator John Ensign and Democrat Charles Rangel. In addition to the furor over the Wilson episode, the Senate has

p r o t e s t e r s

g e t

a n y

had to deal with the case of Senator John Ensign of Nevada, who had to quit the Republican leadership after acknowledging an extramarital affair and payments to the woman‟s family. And Representative Charles B. Rangel, the New York Democrat who is chairman of the

Obama as a socialist or communist, and another imposed his face on that of the villainous Joker from "Batman." Read more.

r e s p e c t House Ways and Means Committee, has acknowledged owing back taxes on some earnings and recently revised his financial disclosure statements to add significant assets he had not previously listed. Read more.

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Special Offer MoveOn: The Movie is being offered for your viewing free of charge by Val Von Holt. To see it free just leave a $10 deposit with me, view the movie for 30 days, return it to me in good condition, and the $10 deposit will be refunded to you. Contact me at 1290 Bruce Street, Pahrump, phone (775) 537-1262 or e-mail [email protected] to make arrangements. I will need to know your name, mail address, e-mail address and phone number. Born out of a single email, MoveOn.org has spread through the Net to become one of the most powerful progressive players in American politics. With no central office and a small staff working from their homes, MoveOn.org grew to an organization with over 5 million members. Director Alex Jordanov followed this movement for 6 years; a movement built on the strength of its membership and best understood through their individual stories.

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NYE-GATEWAY TO NEVADA‟S RURALS

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U p c o m i n g

E v e n t s

If you are aware of an upcoming meeting, event, or such matter and think readers should be aware of it please send me the information via e-mail to [email protected]. Be sure to inform me to the date, time, place, what it is about and who is putting it on. the care they need will also share their health care stories. Join us on Sept. 17 to Health Insurance Reform Forum Las Vegas final stop on OFA Bus Tour support health insurance reform and thank Sen. Harry Reid for being our A coalition of health care supporters is hosting a Las Vegas will be the final stop on Organizchampion on this important reform. forum on health insurance reform on Monday at ing for America‟s Health Insurance Reform the Clark County Government Center. The event Bus Tour, which has made its way across Nye County Democratic Central Committee is sponsored by Organizing for America, the Prothe country in recent weeks. Come thank gressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada and Pres. Barack Obama, Sen. Harry Reid and When: Monday, September 28 Health Care for America Now. To attend, you must Time: 6:30 p.m. Nevada‟s Democratic delegation in ConRSVP to [email protected]. Where: Ruud Community Center, Pahgress for supporting health insurance rerump form. WHEN: Monday, Sept. 14 at 6:00 p.m. Information: [email protected] WHERE: Commission Chambers, Clark County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Pkwy., WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. Las Vegas, NV 89106 WHERE: Location to be determined. Stay WHO: Jon Ralston, Moderator tuned at www.nvdems.com for more details! Barry Gold, AARP WHO: Organizing for America Deputy DiJeremy Aguero, Applied Analysis rector Jeremy Bird Lorraine Jurist, social worker Nevada State Democratic Party Priscilla Schwartz, Adelson Hospice Chairman Sam Lieberman Kim Falco, RN Secretary of State Ross Miller

September 2009

September (Continued)

Real Nevadans who have struggled to get