Senators Alexander & Corker(R`s) Tennessee...No Hurry for Health Care !

Alexander & Corker...Out of Touch ! They have Great Insurance ! You pay for It !

When asked yesterday about the urgency of reforming our nation's health care system Senator Lamar Alexander said "there is no rush." !

Last week, Senator Bob Corker agreed we need to reform our broken health care system, but said getting it done this year will be a "heavy lift."

Join other Tennesseans this Wednesday outside the offices of our Senators in Nashville and Jackson for a "lunch break" rally to make sure they know that now is the time to reform health care!Give your lunch break to reform! Attend one of Wednesday's "Prescription for Change Rallies."Nashville Rally - 3322 W End Ave, Nashville Tell us you are coming: http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102638786806&s=14618&e=001JG80Q2MhlOL7iA0T75914dk49XNkZXDL5_X11T8y5nxKvs6_kT9F1e0D_NCEMQvIsSy2qQypgCeD3jrRgXDuO3p6dg8_pgZisTe8v06UoqvVS0cduGGKPQ==
- or call 615-244-9791 Jackson Rally - 109 South Highland Avenue, JacksonTell us you are coming: http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102638786806&s=14618&e=001JG80Q2MhlOJeldoGz76BmcE8_5hkbUGcIxebX9dRj0cYsVc0sgmCDVNwewIMmdgxgMUth7nRiAIMi7HNTF1j7S5qDw4_XRtQVOu6uDiOaOwtD4sjze3jzSm2-SVRFYqy -

or call 731-664-5107 In Tennessee, health care is in crisis. Our families have seen insurance premiums go up over five times faster than our wages. Our small businesses pay about 18% more in premiums than big corporations and make up more than half of all uninsured. Our Seniors are forced to spend around 30% of their income on on out-of-pocket health care costs. All this, but our Senators think we can put off health care reform for yet another year. Our Senators need to hear from Tennesseans like you that reforming health care this year will end soaring out-of-pocket medical expenses and help jump start our economy.Together we can bring affordable, accessible coverage to Tennessee, but only if our elected officials in DC hear our voices. Join us!

Goodyear Smells Blood ~ Yours & Mine ! ! !

Goodyear Wants Blood, Your`s and Mine !
By : Don Jones...7/12/09

The following proposals from Goodyear management are not only unnecessary, but they are are humiliating. The problem as this writer sees it, we are fighting lions with a switch. There does`nt seem to be much if anything that we as employees/workers can do about these harsh and cruel demands for now. I am supposing that our negotiating team from Union City, President Ricky Waggoner, Policy members, Jerry Ivey and David Wilson are in the survival mode ? There is no doubt in this writers view, Goodyear Union City Plant is expendable ! Our only hope, seems to be that of human sacrifices. As far as this writer can attest too, Goodyear's present corporate management is completely anti-worker. Goodyear does`nt give a hoot about you or your family's. They can move to Dalian China and pay 0.42 cents per hour and provide no benefits, and then export that same tire to the good ole USA and never lower the price ! Unions were created by Cooperation`s out of necessity. That was when we did not have a choice. We created a union or we did`nt survive. It seems we are retreating to those bad ole days again ! Same tyrant thinking, only a new way of destroying those who work for the corporation's. Goodyear has discovered a new way to bring you to your knees. Ask yourself, who benefits from shipping all good paying USA jobs to Country`s with and for slave labor ? Now do not misunderstand me, all corporation's are doing it. Goodyear seems to be leading the way ! In our present economical situation, I do not see how we can stop this complete ravaging of our members/workers ! This contract is about survival of at least part of our manufacturing base. Goodyear Union City, being a big part of that. Having said these not so nice things, do not feel alone. The middle working class all across this country is under attack. Our one glimmer of hope, is the present political administration is trying to correct many of the past administrations misdeeds. Again, we are in a mode of survival ! In short, corporations have found a way to bring you in to submission to their will and once again enslave you to their unreasonable corporate salary`s ! Remember Don Kramer, President of Goodyear North America and Bob Keegan, daddy of the great export of our good paying descent jobs, need another big bonu$. Remember your Union negotiating committee and Union City`s Policy committee in prayer ! They need your prayers and support during these times, as I said before, they are fighting devouring lions with a switch ! "God Bless America" !

Proposals from Goodyear :

(1.)Eliminate Grandfather Status

(2.)Mandatory Overtime

(3.)Eliminate Incentives and Piecework

(4.)Multi Craft and Cross Craft training in Maintenance

(5.)Massive Contracting out of Production and Maintenance positions

(6.)Restrictions on Seniority Rights
(7.)Change how Vacation is accrued and paid and eliminate deferred vacation
(8.)Place limits on future COLA
(9.)Huge increases to Health care premiums
(10.)Reduced Health care coverage
(11.)Complete restructuring of our Pension benefits
(12.)Reduce Accident & Sickness benefits
(13.)Eliminate Supplemental Workers’ Compensation benefit

Goodyear is also seeking many other unnecessary and unreasonable concessions.

How to Pay for Universal Health Care !...7/11/09

House to Target Wealthy on Healthcare
By Jeffrey Young

The House will propose raising taxes on people earning more than $350,000 a year to pay $540 billion for healthcare reform, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) said Friday. House Democrats had been weighing a plethora of other tax increases, such as levies on sugary soft drinks and alcohol, that raised hackles within their caucus. Instead, Rangel said Democrats will seek to enact one large tax increase targeting wealthier workers to generate the revenue they need to finance their $1 trillion-plus healthcare reform bill.“We have decided that instead of putting pieces of different revenue raisers together, that the best that we can do [is] we would have graduated surtaxes starting at [$]350],000],” Rangel said. The tax hikes would begin in 2011 and raise $540 billion over 10 years, he said after a meeting with Democratic committee members.The price tag of the bill is expected to be around $1 trillion. Democrats have already tentatively assembled a package of spending cuts worth around $500 billion, mostly from Medicare and Medicaid. The combination of the tax increase and the spending cuts would provide House Democrats with most, if not all, of the money they need to meet their pledge that healthcare reform would not add to the budget deficit over the next decade.By targeting high-income earners, the House enables President Obama to keep his campaign promise not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year.There would be different surtax rates, ranging from 1 percent to 3 percent, for workers with annual earnings of $350,000, $500,000 and $1 million, Rangel said. Surtaxes are calculated by adding the relevant percentage to workers’ regular yearly tax bill.House Democrats were originally scheduled to release their full healthcare reform bill Friday, including details about paying for the legislation, with markups in three committees slated to begin Monday but were forced to delay because of dissension in their own ranks. Democratic leaders now expect to unveil their revised bill Monday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) promised Obama that the lower chamber would pass a healthcare reform bill by July 31. After Friday’s delay, Democrats have a dwindling number of days to accomplish that goal.Obama said his goals and timeline remain doable. “There are going to be some tough negotiations in the days and weeks to come, but I'm confident that we're going to get it done,” Obama said during a news conference in Italy Friday Nevertheless, Obama acknowledged his August deadline could slip: “I never believe anything is do-or-die but I really want to get it done by the August recess.”Centrist House Democrats objected to numerous aspects of the bill, including the creation of a government-run health insurance plan, and said the measures does not go far enough in containing the rising cost of healthcare.“We want to make sure we’re containing costs and slowing the rate of healthcare down to the rate of inflation as best we can. We think we have to do that before we do anything else,” Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), who is spearheading the Blue Dogs’ healthcare efforts, said after a meeting with House leaders Friday.The protest from the Blue Dog Democrats prompted Pelosi and the committee chairmen to postpone action while they try to satisfy the centrists’ complaints. Blue Dog met with Pelosi Thursday night and with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Rangel, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) on Friday.“They were receptive. They understand they’ve got to change the bill if they want to pass it,” Ross said. “I expect more intense negotiations to occur over the next week or two.”Ross indicated that the slipping timetable was not a concern to him: “We’ve been trying to reform healthcare since Teddy Roosevelt. I think we’ll be okay if we delay it a week or two.” Rangel said that his committee was taking their concerns to heart and would modify the bill to assure the support of centrist Democrats. “As long as it didn’t do damage to the bill and was consistent with where the Speaker and the president would want us, we don’t have any problem with that,” he said.Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), a Ways and Means Committee member, predicted that the three House committees would still be able to begin marking up the healthcare bill next week and passing it before the House departs for its August recess“We’re still operating under the timeline and we want to get this done before we adjourn,” said Larson, adding that Hoyer’s target date for a floor vote is July 29. But much work needs to be done to win over the centrists, he added. “We’re not singing kumbaya yet.”Lingering bad feelings among centrists about how the House leadership managed the writing of the recently passed climate change bill are partly fueling the protests over healthcare, said Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.). “A lot of their concerns emanate from, frankly, they don’t want to see the same process that took place on energy. That has caused a certain about of consternation,” Larson said.Centrists threatened a revolt over the legislation until Pelosi and Waxman agreed to changes demanded by Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and others.Blue Dogs do not feel as though the leadership or the committee chairmen are taking their views seriously early enough in the process, Shuler said. “They were going to unveil [the bill] today, originally, and we have our first meeting” that same day, he complained.

Editorial : I can hear the republicans now, taxing the rich is wrong. Sorry that dog won`t hunt anymore. The rich have so many tax loop holes now, it is pathetic. The only other thing, I can attest to is that the rich could move their accounts off-shore.... Opps, my mistake, they have done that already !

Multi-Transplants ~ Not Fiction Folks !

Transplants Galore !

Johns Hopkins leads first 16-patient, multi center 'domino donor'kidney transplant7/9/2009 11:50:39 AM Surgical teams at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City and Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit successfully completed the first eight-way domino kidney transplant. The transplant involved eight donors — 3 men and 5 women along with eight organ recipients — 3 men and 5 women. All patients are in good condition and are recovering as anticipated, according to Robert A.Montgomery, MD, PhD, director of the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Transplant Center."We performed a similar six-way domino procedure involving three hospitals earlier this year," says Montgomery. "We managed to perform all those surgeries on the same day. However, adding two more recipients, two more donors and another hospital meant that we needed a multi hospital team of eight anesthesiologists, 16 nurses and nine surgeons. The logistics being that much more complicated,we decided it was best to spread the surgeries over several days,the first on June 15 and the last, July 6."Aside from sheer logistics, performing large numbers of transplants on one day puts a lot of strain on the doctors, nurses and staff at each hospital and also ties up too many operating rooms, said Montgomery.He says this new model will serve as a blueprint for a national KPD program in which kidneys will be transported around the country,resulting in an estimated 1,500 additional transplants each year.One of the donors in this procedure was the Pamela Paulk, the vice president of human resources at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Health System. Paulk, a long-time supporter of kidney donation, decided to donate to a friend and colleague who lost function of his kidneys three years ago."I always knew I was going to donate. I was just waiting for the right time, and this was the right time," says Paulk, whose surgery took place on June 22. Paulk joins roughly 100,000 Americans since1988 who have generously donated a kidney to needy recipients,according to data from the UNOS Web site.Johns Hopkins flew one kidney to Henry Ford, one kidney to INTEGRIS Baptist and one kidney to Barnes-Jewish, In exchange, Henry Ford,INTEGRIS Baptists and Barnes Jewish each flew a kidney to Johns Hopkins.The 16 surgeries were performed on four different dates, June 15, June 16, June 22 and July 6. The 10 surgeons in charge included four at Johns Hopkins, two at INTEGRIS Baptist, two at Barnes-Jewish and two at Henry Ford.Johns Hopkins surgeons performed one of the first KPD transplant sin the United States in 2001, the first triple-swap in 2003, the first double and triple domino transplant in 2005, the first five-way domino transplant in 2006 and the first six-way domino transplant in 2007. Johns Hopkins also performed the first multi hospital, transcontinental three-way swap transplant in 2007and the first multi hospital, transcontinental six-way swap transplant in 2009.Nearly 100 medical professionals took part in the transplants,including immunogeneticists, anesthesiologists, operating room nurses, neurologists, transfusion medicine physicians, critical care doctors, nurse coordinators, technicians, social workers,psychologists, pharmacists, financial coordinator's and administrative support people.

> http://nephronline.com/news.asp?N_ID=2991 <

High Speed Internet ~ Speed Matters...7/10/09

Help Spread Affordable, High-Speed Internet Access Across America...

Did you know the United States ranks just 15th among industrialized nations in broadband access? Or that this is costing our economy billions of dollars every year? The Alliance for Retired Americans is a proud partner with Speed Matters, an organization that's been working for years to close the digital divide in the United States: collecting data, spreading awareness, and lobbying our lawmakers about the need for universal broadband. Right now the FCC is currently crafting its national broadband strategy. You can help shape this policy by testing your Internet speed -- and it only takes a few seconds. The results will be sent to the FCC to provide crucial data for its new policy. Click here to take the Speed Matters Internet Speed Test: www.speedmatters.org/ara There has been a digital divide in the United States for many years. It has cost millions of Americans the full benefits of the digital age and kept our economy from reaching its full potential. “Now we're so close to closing the divide".

Union City TN ~ Goodyear`s New Work Schedule ?

Union City’s Startup the First of Many to Come...7/10/09

Facing a July production goal of 20,700 tires per day, Union City has started well following June’s shutdown. Yet, North American Tire has moved some production out of Union City to other NAT plants because Union City’s costs remain uncompetitive. "It was a little rough at the beginning, which is to be expected, but our startup has exceeded my expectations," says Production Manager James Overby. "With our five day schedule, we’ll be shutting down every week, so we need to get better at starting up." Overby says it is critical to meet and, where appropriate, to exceed Union City’s daily production requirements. "It’s okay to beat the goal," he says. "NAT will take every good tire we can build." Data from NAT show Goodyear is selling products and growing market share. Key products that are exceeding NAT’s sales expectations include the Assurance Fuel Max, Eagle, Viva and Wrangler product lines. NAT’s decision to move production from Union City to other NAT plants was based on total overall costs, according to Overby. NAT’s total cost will be lower. Overby says, however, the available capacity in Union City could be useful if NAT needs to schedule additional production to meet market demand. "We have an opportunity to step up and help NAT," he says. "But our costs must be competitive." Overby says working safely, reducing waste, and meeting the ticket all contribute to improving the plant’s competitive position.

Editorial : This was copied out of Union City Today`s Newspaper.Translation = You are not doing enough and you are earning too much money ! We do not need the tires. Remember you are competing with China !

Goodyear Ravaging its Employee`s !...7/09/09

Goodyear`s Proposals Hamper Progress...

Your Policy Committee continues to meet with the Company/Goodyear and discuss proposals. The Company is seeking massive concessions. Listed below are some examples of the Company’s proposals:

Eliminate Grandfather Status
Mandatory Overtime
Eliminate Incentives and Piecework
Multi Craft and Cross Craft training in Maintenance
Massive Contracting out of Production and Maintenance positions
Restrictions on Seniority Rights
Change how Vacation is accrued and paid and eliminate deferred vacation
Place limits on future COLA
Huge increases to Health care premiums
Reduced Health care coverage
Complete restructuring of our Pension benefits
Reduce Accident & Sickness benefits
Eliminate Supplemental Workers’ Compensation benefit
Goodyear is also seeking many other unnecessary and unreasonable concessions

Strike authorization votes have been completed at all of the Locals with 98.5% of our membership authorizing a strike should one become necessary. Your Policy Committee will continue to work to obtain a fair and equitable contract for our members prior to the expiration of our current agreement on July 18, 2009. Our unity and solidarity are critical for us to obtain a contract that gives us dignity, equity, and security to all our members.

Editorial: This writer has stated previously, that this would not be a set of negotiations, but a complete takeaway/ravaging of our members ! So far, I am sad to say, I am correct ! Please stay with your elected Union Leaders ! Without your strike vote, you might as well, give up now !

http://www.uswgkd.com/

Employee`s Free Choice Act(EFCA) S.Bill 560

Employee`s Free Choice Act...

s.560...

Please Click on the Title of this article or the link provided below ! This is the history and present standing on this most vital bill ! It merely level`s the playing field, it does not give Unions exclusive or more rights...It does keep Employer`s from interfering or intimidating !

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/webreturn/?url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.560:

Health Care Reform Now !

Health Care in America...7/08/09

In the survey, sponsored by the AFL-CIO and Working America, nearly one-third reported skipping important medical care because of costs. Almost everyone is dissatisfied with health care costs—including nearly three-quarters of people with insurance. And 6,409 of you were so motivated that you took the time to share personal stories about your experiences with health care. In the current economic crisis, 97 percent say health care reform is urgent. With Congress working on legislation right now, it is critical that your senators and representatives hear from you.

Read the report and personal stories and pass them along.
Tell your members of Congress we need real health care reform now.

The survey shows that every day people are being forced to make life-and-death decisions: Pay their health care premiums or buy the life-saving prescription? Chip away at credit card debt or skip the required care for a serious chronic condition? This is not acceptable. We must have real health care reform now. That’s what the 23,460 people who took the 2009 Health Care for America Survey—and the 6,409 who submitted heart-wrenching personal stories—demand. You and others who took the survey reveal the real-world toll of soaring health care costs, lack of insurance, systemic flaws in our health care system and the economic downturn.

Senator Al Franken(D)Minnesota...First act, is to try and level the playing field for the working Class.

Thank You, Senator Franken...7/08/09

I became the co-sponsor of my first piece of legislation in the Senate. And it's something called the Employee Free Choice Act."(EFCA)
That's what Al Franken said last night ... just hours after being sworn in as a U.S. Senator from Minnesota!
Today, Senator Franken is heading to the U.S. Capitol for his first full day on the job — and to thank him for his support, we're putting together a huge welcome card. Will you add your name? Take a minute to sign our welcome card to Senator Al Franken! It's been a long road for Senator Franken. After a close vote, his opponent fought in court for months to stop him from being seated. Today, the people of Minnesota finally have their next Senator. Tell him that we're thrilled to have him here, standing up for America's workers. Senator Franken has already taken a strong stand for workers. Just hours after being sworn in yesterday, he signed on as a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act. But Senator Franken is up against some serious opposition, so he needs our support and encouragement. As our economy continues to slide, an army of Big Business lobbyists continues to fight relentlessly against workers having a fair shake. Take a moment to welcome Senator Franken — thank him for being a leader on this issue and remind him how important it is that he keep fighting. Sign the card! Together with Senate champions like Al Franken, we can restore the middle class and get our economy back on track.

Employee`s Free of Choice Act...2009

Please Vote for the Employee`s free Choice Act (EFCA)

How Congress Voted
Your Headlines, Your Issues, Your Opinions
Congress.org To Go

Congress.org

Legislation Details:
'A bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to establish an efficient system to enable employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to provide for mandatory injunctions for unfair labor practices during the organizing efforts, and for other purposes. '
: 111 State: Federal Chamber: Senate Bill Number: S. 560 Sponsor: Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA)Last Sponsor Date: Mar. 10, 2009


Official Title as Introduced: 'A bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act to establish an efficient system to enable employees to form, join, or assist labor organization's, to provide for mandatory injunctions for unfair labor practices during the organizing efforts, and for other purposes. '
Summary

Committees :

3/10/2009--Introduced. Employee Free Choice Act of 2009 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to require the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to certify a bargaining Representative without directing an election if a majority of the bargaining unit employees have authorized designation of the Representative (card-check) and there is no other individual or labor organization currently certified or recognized as the exclusive representative of any of the employees in the unit. Sets forth special procedural requirements for reaching an initial collective bargaining agreement following certification or recognition. Revises enforcement requirements with respect to unfair labor practices during union organizing drives, particularly a preliminary investigation of an alleged unfair labor practice (ULP) which may lead to proceedings for injunctive relief. Requires that priority be given to a preliminary investigation of any charge that, while employees were seeking representation by a labor organization, or during the period after a labor organization was recognized as a representative until the first collective bargaining contract is entered into, an employer: (1) discharged or otherwise discriminated against an employee to encourage or discourage membership in the labor organization; (2) threatened to discharge or to otherwise discriminate against an employee in order to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of guaranteed self-organization or collective bardaining rights; or (3) engaged in any other related ULP that significantly interferes with, restrains, or coerces employees in the exercise of such guaranteed rights. Adds to remedies for such violations: (1) back pay plus liquidated damages; and (2) additional civil penalties.

Editorial : If you read closely, no where does it say a mandatory secret ballot ! It basically keeps employer`s from interfering with the process ! Another step in leveling the playing field ! Please get in touch with your congressman and ask him to vote for this bill ! If you reside in Tennessee, just click on the title of this article, it carry you to > http://www.tennesseeanytime.org/government/elected.html <>

I Get Letters~Cong. Steve Cohen, District#9-Tennessee...7/02/09

7/02/09

Dear Friend,

As we celebrate Independence Day with our families, loved ones, neighbors and friends this year, let’s take the time to remember those who have fought for that independence, and those who are serving this very day to give others the chance to experience the freedoms we hold so dear.Throughout our district, people are giving of their time and talent to clean up our environment, deliver food to the elderly and donate blood to the sick. Instead of devoting their intellect and skills to self-promotion, some of our citizens are lifting up their fellow man with AmeriCorps or going overseas to promote goodwill with the PeaceCorps.
Others are finding different ways to serve. We’re fortunate to have committed and caring doctors and nurses to care for us when we are sick or injured; firefighters and police officers to protect our families. Of course, we cannot forget the teachers who inspire the youngest Americans to turn their dreams into reality, nor the government employees who deliver our mail, run our government, and keep America moving. Likewise, we must always hold, in our hearts, the millions of Americans – especially those from Tennessee – who have put their lives on hold to defend our borders and protect our citizens. The men and women who have enlisted in the Armed Forces are some of the bravest and noblest in the country, for they have born burdens many could not handle. All of them, regardless of their duty, have gone above and beyond the expectations for the average American. To them, our country owes its greatest appreciation. I wish you and your family a very safe and happy Fourth of July weekend. As always, I remain,

Most sincerely,

Steve Cohen, Member of Congress, District#9-Tennessee

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Phone: (901) 544-4131Fax: (901) 544-4329

Washington, D.C.1004 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

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Health Care Reform ~ Now !...7/02/09

Health Care , A National Crisis...

Health care reform this summer is a national priority. It must include a public plan option that provides affordable health care for all Americans. Seniors know we need to strengthen Medicare, overhaul Medicare Part D, and create affordable long-term services and supports. On July 7th and 8th, we ask you to join us in reminding Congress that seniors MUST be a part of the national health care reform debate.

ON JULY 7TH and 8TH CALL: 1-800-603-7348

JUST ENTER IN YOUR ZIP CODE AND WE WILL CONNECT YOU DIRECTLY TO YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS. MAKE SURE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE & SENATORS KNOW THAT IT IS TIME TO FIX OUR BROKEN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. TELL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS TO:- Support an affordable public plan option with premiums NOT based on age.
- Oppose the taxation of health care benefits. This could lead to the loss of coverage, especially since one-third of retirees receive health benefits through their former employers.
- Support inclusion of the CLASS Act (S. 697 and H.R. 1721) for long term care in health care reform.
For more information, please call: 1-888-373-6497, option #1, or email > ARAorganizing@retiredamericans.org. Or, for more information about health care reform and the Alliance for Retired Americans, please visit our website at: www.retiredamericans.org

THIS CALL IN NUMBER IS BEING SPONSORED BY SEIU

I Get Letters ~ Cong John Tanner, District#8-Tennessee...7/02/09

July 2, 2009

Mr. Don Jones
Martin, TN 38237

Dear Mr. Jones:

Thank you for contacting our office regarding your support for H.R. 1458, the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with me on this legislation. As you know, this bill is intended to provide continued coverage entitlement for immunosuppressive drugs furnished to Medicare beneficiaries that have received a kidney transplant and whose entitlement to coverage would otherwise expire. H.R. 1458 has been referred to the Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor for further study and review. You may be sure that I will closely follow any developments related to the legislative consideration of H.R. 1458. Again, thank you for sharing your views with me and I hope you will continue to contact our office with any issues of concern to you in the future.

Sincerely, John Tanner(D), M.C. District#8-Tennessee

Secretary of Labor ~ Yes !

Labor Secretary Solis: ‘Level the Playing Field’
by Seth Michaels, Jun 30, 2009

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Elections have consequences. Speaking today in an interview with The Washington Post, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis re-affirmed the administration’s commitment to passing the Employee Free Choice Act and restoring workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain. Here’s what Solis had to say about why we need the Employee Free Choice Act: I think it helps to level the playing field because, in many cases, workers have been disadvantaged. They’ve been intimidated, they’ve been harassed, and we have case after case after case that we can look at. And you probably hear from the opposing side, that they will say, “Well, no, there have been successes where people have been able to organize, and they have been able to push forward a unionization.” But when you look at the attempts that have been made over the past few years…there have been barriers that have been put up. And I think that the past administration was not very favorable for unions. They were not supportive in many ways. A video of the interview with Solis, which includes a discussion of green jobs, the unemployment rate, worker training and wages, is available here, and a transcript is available here. It’s refreshing to have an advocate for working families in such a critical position. Solis is the child of two union members and has a record in Congress of supporting workers—including co-sponsoring the Employee Free Choice Act. Make no mistake, this is going to be a tough fight against determined corporate opposition, but the efforts of working families in 2006 and 2008 have given us strong pro-worker majorities in Congress, a president who will sign the Employee Free Choice Act and a secretary of labor who actually fights on behalf of workers. President Barack Obama and his administration have reiterated several times their continued support for the Employee Free Choice Act. Working families won in 2008, and now it’s time to make our economy work for everyone again.

Editorial : Isn`t it great to have a Secretary of Labor, who is Secretary of Labor...not Corporate America ! The Dragon Lady is Gone.

Democrats Now Hold Majority in Senate !

Minnesota court declares Franken Senate winner
By Aaron Blake ~Posted: 06/30/09

Minnesota’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Democrat Al Franken is the winner of the state’s Senate race and should be awarded a certificate of election, paving the way for Franken to be seated.Franken would be the 60th Democratic vote in the Senate, giving the party the ability to override GOP filibusters without needing a Republican senator to cross over. “For all of the foregoing reasons, we affirm the decision of the trial court that Al Franken received the highest number of votes legally cast and is entitled under (state law) to receive the certificate of election as United States Senator from the State of Minnesota,” the Supreme Court’s ruling states. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) has suggested that he would follow the court’s lead on whether to sign a certificate of election. Without the certificate, Democrats have declined to attempt to seat Franken.“We expect that ruling any day now,” Pawlenty said Sunday on CNN’s "State of the Union." “I also expect them to give guidance and direction as to the certificate of election. I’m prepared to sign it as soon as they give the green light.”Shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision was handed down, Democratic leaders called on Pawlenty to make good on his promise.“We’ve always said that Norm Coleman deserved his day in court, and he got eight months,” said the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.). “Now we expect Gov. Pawlenty to do the right thing, follow the law, and sign the election certificate.”Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he looked forward to Franken’s seating.“The people of Minnesota will now finally get the brilliant and hardworking new senator they elected in November and the full representation they deserve,” Reid said.Coleman was the leader after Election Day, but a recount showed Franken overtaking him. A three-judge panel then affirmed Franken’s victory, which led to Coleman’s appeal to the state Supreme Court.Coleman can still file suit in federal court, which could feasibly issue an order preventing Franken from being seated. That seems less likely, though, now that the state Supreme Court has said Franken should be issued an election certificate. It’s not yet clear whether Coleman will pursue further legal action, as his legal bills mount and public patience with his eight-month-old challenge wanes.The former senator has seen several members of his staff disperse in the last few months including, recently, his campaign manager.Justices ruled against Coleman on each of the five issues his campaign raised, calling the board of canvassing certification "prima facie evidence that Franken ... has been elected" to the Senate.Coleman's legal team argued their due process rights were violated when a trial court did not require total compliance with statutes involving absentee voters, and that different applications of statutory requirements violated Coleman's equal protection rights.Coleman also alleged the lower court had erred in excluding certain evidence, refusing to count more absentee ballots and by including vote tallies from a specific Minneapolis precinct in which ballots were lost.

Tennessee District#8-Recent Votes

Tennessee District#8-Recent Votes in House and Senate !

Recent Senate Votes:

Nomination of Harold Hongju Koh to be Legal Adviser of the Department of State - Vote Confirmed (62-35, 2 Not Voting)The Senate confirmed Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh as Legal Adviser of the State Department. Sen. Lamar Alexander voted NO......send e-mail or see bio Sen. Bob Corker voted NO......send e-mail or see bio

Recent House Votes:

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2010 - Vote Passed (389-37, 7 Not Voting)On Wednesday, the House passed this bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security for Fiscal Year 2010.Rep. John Tanner voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

Department of Defense Authorization, FY 2010 - Vote Passed (389-22, 1 Present, 21 Not Voting)The House approved this bill to authorize funding for military activities and prescribe military personnel strengths in Fiscal Year 2010.Rep. John Tanner voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

Department of Interior and Related Agencies Appropriation, 2010 - Vote Passed (254-173, 6 Not Voting)The House passed this bill funding the Department of Interior, Environmental Protection Agency and related agencies for Fiscal Year 2010. Rep. John Tanner voted NO......send e-mail or see bio

American Clean Energy and Security Act - Vote Passed (219-212, 3 Not Voting)This climate and energy bill, which includes a cap-and-trade program, was passed by the House on Friday. Rep. John Tanner voted NO......send e-mail or see bio

Discrimination is Discrimination !

Judge Sotomayor Ruling Overturned, as it should have Been !

The Supreme Court has ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge. New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said Monday in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities. The ruling could alter employment practices nationwide, potentially limiting the circumstances in which employers can be held liable for decisions when there is no evidence of intentional discrimination against minorities. "Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer's reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions," Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his opinion for the court. He was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. In dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the white firefighters "understandably attract this court's sympathy. But they had no vested right to promotion. Nor have other persons received promotions in preference to them." Justices Stephen Breyer, David Souter and John Paul Stevens signed onto Ginsburg's dissent, which she read aloud in court Monday.
Read the full decision here.

Editorial : Discrimination is discrimination, be it black, white, red or yellow ! I`m wondering how long it is going to be ? Can we ever put this behind us ? I pray we do !

Women are Smart ! Womens Chamber of Commerce

Women’s Chamber of Commerce Endorses Public Health Plan Option
by Mike Hall, Jun 26, 2009

One the largest groups of women business leaders in the nation called this week for comprehensive health care reform that includes a “a robust” public health plan option. In a report to Congress, the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce, with more than 500,000 members, writes: Americans should also have the choice of a robust government lead a public plan to take on the insurance carriers, provide vigorous competition, and assure all Americans have access to affordable health care. A public insurance plan option for workers and families who either have private insurance coverage or no coverage at all is one of the AFL-CIO’s key health care reform principles. It is vehemently opposed by most business groups, the private insurance industry and Republican lawmakers. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the group writes: For more than a decade the American health care system has been careening towards a complete collapse reducing our quality of life, suppressing business growth and international competitiveness, and threatening our country’s security. Over the last weeks, months, and years, our members have told us of the fears, frustrations, and financial hardships they have experienced as a result of our failed health care system. Very few modern day economic issues more directly impact both economic advancement and quality of life for American women than health care reform. The report, “Health Care Reform: An American Values Imperative,” also calls for guaranteed access to affordable health insurance coverage, bringing an end to age and wellness discrimination, greater transparency and accountability, choice, flexibility and portability of health insurance. Click here to read the full report. The U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce is not connected to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposes a public plan option.

"The Gift of Life, What a Loving thing to Do"!

Release Date: 06/24/2009

OPTN Statement Regarding Liver/Organ Transplant Waiting Times and Allocation...

Recent news regarding liver transplantation has raised public questions regarding how donated livers are allocated and potential variation in transplant waiting times. The national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), operated by United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) under federal contract, cannot discuss details of individual transplant candidates subject to federal laws and regulations regarding patient confidentiality. The OPTN can address general questions about policy and process. Whenever a person known to the public receives a transplant, it is tempting to compare that person's waiting time to national averages. Any comparison of one person's experience to that of thousands of others can be misleading. Liver waiting time is greatly influenced by a formula that assigns priority for organ offers based on the candidate's risk of dying within three months without a transplant. For candidates 12 or older, this formula is called a MELD score. (Younger candidates are prioritized by a companion system known as PELD). MELD uses objective calculations of common laboratory tests of liver and kidney function. MELD scores can range from 6 (least urgent) to 40 (most urgent); candidates with a score of 15 or higher are at considerable risk of dying in the short term without a transplant.
OPTN policy prioritizes liver candidates local to the organ donor with a MELD or PELD score of 15 or higher, then those candidates within the region of the donor who have scores of 15 and higher, before any less urgent candidates may be considered. Of candidates listed in the United States with an initial MELD or PELD score between 19 and 24, half receive a liver transplant within approximately 15 weeks of being listed. Of those listed with an initial MELD or PELD score of 25 or higher, half receive a transplant within 20 days of listing. Candidates with lower MELD/PELD priority may often wait months to years for a transplant opportunity. Other factors may further affect waiting time, such as whether the candidate is generally compatible or incompatible with many donor offers based on blood type or body size. Waiting time in a given local area may reflect particular characteristics in that area's recipient population that are not common to other areas. The national allocation system cannot and does not make any distinction of candidate priority based on wealth, celebrity or other purely social characteristics. In recent years, approximately 6,500 liver transplants have been performed annually in the United States. Today more than 15,000 men, women and children continue to await this lifesaving gift. We hope the current attention generated by news reports will remind the public of the continuing need of all transplant candidates, and of the opportunity to end their wait through making a positive commitment to organ donation.

Editorial : It seems that at times we had rather have a media frenzy, than the truth about Organ Donation !

Goodyear-Kelly-Dunlop ~ Negotiations 2009

Negotiations Continue While Locals Take Strike Authorization Votes


Your International Policy Committee and Goodyear representatives continue meeting daily in Cincinnati, Ohio, exchanging proposals and holding discussions concerning all areas of the Collective Bargaining and Pension and Insurance Agreements. Following are highlights of some of the Union’s critical proposals:

• Job Security – We are striving to maintain and improve job security provisions for all of our members.

• New Hire Wages and Benefits – Improving New Hire wages and benefits are at the forefront of our discussions.

• Grandfather Status – Your Committee is committed to maintaining the wages of
grandfathered members.

• Pension Benefits – We are committed to improving pension benefits for future retirees.

• Quality Affordable Health care – Keeping good, affordable health care for our members and our families is of the utmost importance.

Strike authorization votes have been completed by Local Unions in Buffalo, Topeka, Danville and Fayetteville with an average approval of 97.2%. Votes will be held in Akron, Gadsden and Union City next week. A strike authorization vote is a vote by all members of the Union to give your Bargaining Committee the power to engage in job action to further our position at the bargaining table. This empowers your negotiators with the leverage that they need to negotiate a fair and equitable contract.

Editorial : You can call it anything you`d like, but Negotiations, I think not ! "Goodyear will not be in a lets be friends mood" They will take any and all things that they wish ! There is no longer a lets get along approach at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company ! It is take, take, take all we can get from our employees/associates ! I have learned to loath the word ASSOCIATE ! My prayers will go up for President Rick Waggoner, Union City USWA Local 878-L !

Walmart Rx Drugs ? Better Be Careful !

Walmart Lowers Prescription Drug Prices By Putting Their Customers at Risk...

The cost of prescription drugs has been a recurrent theme in health care reform, and Walmart has promoted their $4 generic drugs in an attempt to address the issue. However, the group "Wake Up Walmart" has released a report saying that Walmart's medication comes from Ranbaxy - a disrespected Indian drug maker - and that Walmart actually profits off these foreign investments. The FDA and the Department of Justice have repeatedly investigated Ranbaxy for insufficient contamination policies and for issuing false records, and eventually banned the importation of drugs manufactured at two Ranbaxy facilities. According to the Department of Justice, Walmart's supplier is responsible for introducing potentially "subpotent, superpotent, or adulterated" drugs into the market. Medications used by millions of Walmart shoppers could have contained active ingredients from unapproved sources, in unapproved blends, and in amounts weaker than FDA-approved doses. Despite these investigations, Walmart has given Ranbaxy the "Outstanding Supplier Award." "Walmart has been putting consumers at great risk. 'Safe' and 'affordable' are not mutually exclusive."

Negotiating Health-Care ! Not Easy !

President Obama Says He is "Flexible" on Offering a Public Health Plan...

A New York Times poll released on Sunday showed that a remarkable 72% of Americans support a public health care plan. President Obama said that he believes insurers are being illogical in opposing the public option, arguing that if they provide the best quality health care at an affordable price, there is no reason the government's plan should drive them out of business. However, on Tuesday, the President signaled a willingness to fore go a public option in health care reform - troubling many health care reform advocates. "The private marketplace has proved to be inadequate in providing for all citizens, and we need a public option to fill the void," Most Americans have grown distrustful of insurance companies' concern for their customers' health needs, and that showed in the New York Times' poll." !

Discrimination ~ It Is Time to Move On ! God Save Us All !

"President Barack Obama of these United States"!

By : Don Jones...6/25/09

Wall Street, General Motors, Chrysler,Goodyear and our entire economy has taken a terrific beating. Our new President Barack Obama has a lot of things on his plate, if you don`t think so, ask him ? I truly believe he is trying to make a difference for the middle class and all class`s. I cannot think of a president who has inherited more problems than Obama, with the exception of Roosevelt, in my lifetime. I admire his coolness under fire. He is a very smart and a very articulate man. I can identify with this president more than most in my life. Now, remember, I am (70)seventy years young. I can remember when there was deep segregation in my home county. I remember going to the Weakley County court house in Dresden and seeing separate drinking fountains, one for white, one for colored. Separate bathrooms, one for white one for colored. I remember going to my Aunts restaurant "The Vol Inn" in Martin, the coloreds had to go in rear, whites had to go upfront. I remember when the Varsity Theater had the balcony for colored and the main floor for whites. I can remember when all of Tennessee was a democratic stronghold. It is now a republican stronghold ! There are a lot of things, I do not understand, and there are somethings I do understand. It seems that still some Tennessee citizens think it is alright to joke about discrimination ! I am not one of those Tennesseans. Recently we had a employee who works for an elected representative, send out cartoon, insinuating that President Barack Obama is not a white man, it was in very poor taste. I was in hopes that we Tennesseans were beyond that kind of crap. Evidently we are not. I can only hope that in time, Martin Luther King`s "Judge a man by the content of his character not the color of his skin" would have resonated. Our news media keeps repeating he is the first black president in our history. I`m wondering ,that as a white man, what I am suppose to do with our presidents white half ? So far he has done an outstanding job, with what he inherited from the previous administration. He has lovely family, a well educated wife/first lady ! Our President is stepping on some very aristocratic toes. It was/is long overdue. One last thought, I am a Southern Baptist, I pray that our Southern Baptist Convention will return to its roots of evangelism and stop being a Political Action committee for the GOP(Republican Party) ! My one and only prayer for our nation, is to not have him assassinated ! I know, I should`nt mention that. However, I feel it is a necessary thing. "God Save President Barack Obama"!

Trade Policy Bad for USA !

TRADE Act Would Overhaul Bad Trade Policy
by James Parks, Jun 24, 2009

Today, a bipartisan group in Congress said they will reintroduce a major legislative overhaul of the nation’s failed trade policies to put good jobs at the center of a coherent global economic strategy. The Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment (TRADE) Act, which has 106 co-sponsors, was first introduced last year but did not come to the floor. It would require a review of existing trade agreements, establish standards for future trade agreements, protect workers’ rights and help restore congressional oversight of trade agreements. Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine), the bill’s sponsor, said at a Capitol Hill press conference today: We all know that we live in a globalized world. But we need to ensure trade is fair for our workers and economy. The TRADE Act shows what we are for in future trade agreements—and paves the way on how to fix our existing agreements. The co-sponsors reflect broad support in Congress for a new direction on trade. They include eight committee chairs, 45 subcommittee chairs, 17 Blue Dogs, 13 New Democrats and 19 members of the Congressional Black Caucus, among many others. Specifically, the TRADE Act would: Require a comprehensive review of existing trade agreements with an emphasis on economic results, enforcement and compliance and an analysis of non-tariff provisions in trade agreements. Spell out standards for labor and environmental protections, food and product safety, national security exceptions and remedies that must be included in new trade pacts. Set requirements regarding public services, farm policy, investment, government procurement and affordable medicines and compare them with components of current trade agreements.
Require the president to submit renegotiation plans for current trade pacts prior to negotiating new agreements and prior to congressional consideration of pending agreements. Create a committee made up of the chairs and ranking members of each committee whose jurisdiction is affected by trade agreements to review the president’s plan for renegotiations. Restore congressional oversight of trade agreements. You can read a full text of the bill here.

Editorial : Without trade reform, there is no stopping our race to the bottom.

Universal Health Care in USA ... Facts ! 6/24/09

America Needs/Deserves Health Care Now !

Myth: The U.S. has the best health care system in the world. Fact: The U.S. has among the worst health statistics of all rich nations. Summary The U.S. does not have the best health care system in the world - it has the best emergency care system in the world. Advanced U.S. medical technology has not translated into better health statistics for its citizens; indeed, the U.S. ranks near the bottom in list after list of international comparisons. Part of the problem is that there is more profit in a pound of cure than an ounce of prevention. Another part of the problem is that America has the highest level of poverty and income inequality among all rich nations, and poverty affects one's health much more than the limited ministrations of a formal health care system. Argument Let's review the health care statistics first, and analyze them afterwards. All statistics here are for the year 1991; they have generally become worse for the U.S. since then.Health Care Expenditures (percent of GDP) (1)

United States 13.4%
Canada 10.0
Finland 9.1
Sweden 8.6
Germany 8.4
Netherlands 8.4
Norway 7.6
Japan 6.8
United Kingdom 6.6
Denmark 6.5
Doctors' incomes: (2)
United States $132,300
Germany 91,244
Denmark 50,585
Finland 42,943
Norway 35,356
Sweden 25,768

Percent of population covered by public health care:
ALL NATIONS (except below) 100%
France, Austria 99
Switzerland, Spain, Belgium 98
Germany 92
Netherlands 77
United States 40
Average paid maternity leave (as of 1991; this changed with Clinton's
signing of the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act):
Sweden 32 weeks
France 28
United Kingdom 18
Norway 18
Denmark 18
Japan 14
Germany 14
Netherlands 12
United States 0

Life Expectancy (years):
Men Women
Japan 76.2<> 82.5
France 72.9<> 81.3
Switzerland 74.1<> 81.3
Netherlands 73.7<> 80.5
Sweden 74.2<> 80.4
Canada 73.4<> 80.3
Norway 73.1<> 79.7
Germany 72.6<> 79.2
Finland 70.7 <>78.8
United States 71.6<> 78.6
United Kingdom 72.7<> 78.2
Denmark 72.2 <>77.9
Infant Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births):
United States 10.4
United Kingdom 9.4
Germany 8.5
Denmark 8.1
Canada 7.9
Norway 7.9
Netherlands 7.8
Switzerland 6.8
Finland 5.9
Sweden 5.9
Japan 5.0
Death rate of 1-to-4 year olds (per community of 200,000 per year):
United States 101.5
Japan 92.2
Norway 90.2
Denmark 85.1
France 84.9
United Kingdom 82.2
Canada 82.1
Netherlands 80.3
Germany 77.6
Switzerland 72.5
Sweden 64.7
Finland 53.3
Death rate of 15-to-24 year olds (per community of 200,000 per year):
United States 203
Switzerland 175
Canada 161
France 156
Finland 154
Norway 128
Germany 122
Denmark 120
United Kingdom 114
Sweden 109
Japan 96
Netherlands 90
Note: the murder rate for the above age group is 48.8 per 200,000. Even
subtracting this entirely still puts the U.S. near the top of the list.
Premature Death (years of life lost before the age of 64 per 100 people):
United States 5.8 years
Denmark 4.9
Finland 4.8
Canada 4.5
Germany 4.5
United Kingdom 4.4
Norway 4.3
Switzerland 4.1
Netherlands 4.0
Sweden 3.8
Japan 3.3
Percent of people with normal body mass:
Men Women
Germany 53% <>37
Finland 51<> 37
United Kingdom 46<> 38
Canada 52 <>29
Switzerland 49<> 30
France 44<> 30
Denmark 44<> 25
United States 47<> 22
Sweden 44 25
Percent of people who believe their health care system needs fundamental change:
United States 60%
Sweden 58
United Kingdom 52
Japan 47
Netherlands 46
France 42
Canada 38
An explanation of America's poor health care statistics Sharp readers will notice that the last chart may mean different things to different people. Conservatives think the U.S. health care system needs reform because there is too much government involvement in health care; liberals because there is not enough. So let's clarify this statistic with a few others. Americans are the most dissatisfied with the quality and quantity of their health care. Of the 10 largest industrialized nations, the U.S. ranked dead last in health care satisfaction, with an approval rating of only 11 percent. (3) There's no putting a positive spin on this statistic; any president with such a low approval rating would be impeached! Most of this dissatisfaction stems from the high expense and unavailability of U.S. health care. During the 1993 debate on health care reform, polls consistently showed that two-thirds of all Americans supported the idea of universal coverage. (4) Polls also showed that Americans didn't want to pay the higher taxes to achieve this goal, which many pundits took to be an amusing example of public inconsistency. Actually, the public was entirely consistent. Other nations manage to cover everybody, and at lower cost. Nor is America's international reputation in health care as high as many Americans boast it to be. "Ask anyone you know from a foreign country... which country is the envy of the world when it comes to health care," Rush Limbaugh wrote in See, I Told You So. But according to a Gallup poll published by the Toronto Star, only 2 percent of all Canadians believe that the U.S. has a better health care system than their own. (5) The fact is that America does not have the finest health care system in the world; it has the finest emergency care system in the world. Highly trained American doctors can summon Star Wars-type technology in saving patients who have become seriously injured or critically ill. But as far as preventative medicine goes, the U.S. is still in the Stone Age. It should be no surprise that in America's health care business, entrepreneurs will take a pound of cure over an ounce of prevention every time. But in reality, what affects the health of Americans lies more outside the formal health care system than within it. In Europe during the last century, life expectancy nearly doubled after nations purified their drinking water and created sanitation systems. In America during this century, the highest cancer rates are found in neighborhoods around the chemical industry. (6) A healthy diet and exercise provide better health than most medicines in most circumstances. Other nations have realized that factors outside the hospital are more important than factors inside it, and have used this bit of wisdom to lower their health care costs. Perhaps the greatest reason why Europeans are healthier than Americans is because they have reduced poverty, especially child poverty. The link between poverty and poorer health has long been proven. One survey reviewed more than 30 other studies on the relationship between class and health, and found that "class influences one's chances of staying alive. Almost without exception, the evidence shows that classes differ on mortality rates." (7) The American Journal of Epidemiology states that "a vast body of evidence has shown consistently that those in the lower classes have higher mortality, morbidity and disability rates" and these "are in part due to inadequate medical care services as well as to the impact of a toxic and hazardous physical environment." (8) And in an even more important finding, studies from Harvard and Berkeley have proven that income inequality -- not just absolute poverty -- is equally important. (9) States with the highest levels of income inequality also have the highest mortality and morbidity rates. The reason why relative poverty matters is because prices and opportunities are relative too - the U.S. may have the best medical technology in the world, but at $10,000 a procedure, who can afford it? Many reasons contribute to the worse health of the poor. Political scientist Jeffrey Reiman writes: "Less money means less nutritious food, less heat in winter, less fresh air in summer, less distance from sick people, less knowledge about illness or medicine, fewer doctor visits, fewer dental visits, less preventative care, and above all else, less first-quality medical attention when all these other deprivations take their toll and a poor person finds himself seriously ill." (10) And this is not to mention that the poor work and live in more polluted, hazardous and strenuous environments. These deprivations are especially hard on infants in their critical development years. The U.S. has tried to combat this problem by offering universal prenatal and postnatal health care, much like Europe does. But the U.S. is fighting against a head wind because it has levels of poverty that Europe does not. Again, a person's health is affected by more factors outside the formal health care system than within it. It's not enough to give a few programs to a person in poverty; what's needed is removing that person from poverty completely. "When I look back on my years in office," says C. Everett Koop, Reagan's former Surgeon General, "the things I banged my head against were all poverty." (11) If America is to improve its health statistics, it must not only pass universal health care, but reduce poverty as well.

Editorial : We cannot afford not to implement Universal Health Care ! It seems our race to the bottom continues.

I Get Letters...Cong. John Tanner(D) Tennessee District#8

June 24, 2009

Mr. Don Jones
Martin, TN 38237

Dear Mr. Jones:

Thank you for contacting our office to share your support for efforts to close the Medicare Part D coverage gap, the so called "doughnut hole". According to estimates, more than 3 million Medicare beneficiaries are at risk this year of falling into the doughnut hole where they pay the full cost of drugs until reaching the plan's catastrophic limit. Options for addressing the coverage gap are currently being discussed in Congress as part of the health care reform discussions. Because of the significant costs of totally closing the gap immediately, many options and proposals are being studied. I anticipate that some provisions will be included in the health care reform bill to begin to address the coverage gap. Again, thank you for sharing your comments with me. I hope you will continue to contact me on issues of concern to you in the future.

Sincerely, John Tanner, M.C.

District#8-Tennessee

CPC Questions and Answers June 4 2009 - Healthcare reform

Please listen carefully ! Click on the title or link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk_n865ifJE

Buy American ~ Bob Corker(R)Tennessee Voted Against US !

Dear Don,

Thank you for taking the time to contact my office about the need to force companies to buy goods made only in America. Your opinion is important to me, and I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts. On February 17, 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law and included a provision requiring that all funds in the bill be used to purchase only American iron, steel, and manufactured goods for use in public infrastructure construction-related projects. I had concerns about this provision because the bill did not define "manufactured goods" and as a result may negatively affect numerous manufacturers in our state. Throughout the Senate debate, our office heard from numerous Tennessee companies that will be negatively affected if they are forced to find a new market to buy the components that they have already been using and purchasing. In many cases, other components that these companies will be forced to use may be significantly more expensive, which will drive up the price of the finished product and ultimately have negative effects upon sales and exports. Further, if American companies are forced to use more of their resources to purchase only goods manufactured in a specific country, they will ultimately have less to spend on other financial needs such as personnel, ultimately resulting in job loss. For these reasons, I voted for an amendment that would have removed this "Buy America" provision from the bill. The amendment failed and the provision was included in the final bill. In closing, I want you to know how much I appreciate your comments on this issue. I can assure you, I am committed to passing responsible incentives and policies which will ultimately increase American jobs, improve industry and sustain economic growth. I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with me over the course of my term.

Sincerely, Bob Corker(R) Tennessee

United States Senator

Editorial : Senator Corker, what were you thinking ? You voted NO ! Those in state manufacturers, were they foreign investors ? You bet they were ! Once again our own Tennessee U.S. Senators have voted against America again. This bill passed, but with no help from Tennessee Senators. It seems our enemy's are in the U.S. Senate ! God Help Us ! We vote for and elect our very own Enemy`s !

I Get Letters ~ Senator Bob Corker(R)Tennessee...6/23/09

Senator Corker`s View on Judge Sotomayor...

Dear Don,

Thank you for taking the time to contact my office about the nomination of Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Your input is important to me, and I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts. I agree it is extremely important to ensure that our Supreme Court Justices are highly qualified. The Constitution grants the President the power to make nominations to the Supreme Court with the advice and consent of the Senate. Over the coming weeks, I will encourage a rigorous and thoughtful confirmation process for Judge Sotomayor as well as a fair hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. I will examine her experience, ability, integrity, and judicial philosophy to ensure that she is qualified and that she will make decisions rooted in the law rather than based on her personal or political beliefs.Thank you again for your letter. I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with me.

Sincerely, Bob Corker(R)Tennessee

United States Senator

A Level Playing Field ? I Think Not ! China vs. The World

Beijing’s ‘Buy China’ Order Could Prompt an Escalation in Protectionism By: Jason Simpkins ,Managing Editor Money Morning

After denouncing a U.S. effort to incorporate a “Buy American” clause in its stimulus package, Beijing has introduced a new “Buy China” policy as part of its $585 billion economic stimulus program. The move has sparked outrage among China’s trade partners and could lead to a surge in protectionist measures around the world. “Government investment projects should buy domestically made products unless products or services cannot be obtained in reasonable commercial conditions in China," says the June 1 edict, which was issued by the country’s chief planning body in conjunction with eight other government agencies. “Projects that really need to buy imports should be approved by the relevant government departments before purchasing activity starts.”The order came as a shock to many of China’s trading partners, as Beijing has been one of the most vocal critics of trade protectionism. Foreign makers of the wind turbines used in energy-generating “wind farms” are already complaining that this edict shuts them out of $5 billion worth of business related to a Chinese energy project that’s being financed by the stimulus package. And the “Buy China” order is being viewed as especially egregious because China’s main state news agency just months ago referred to a similar “Buy American” clause in the U.S. stimulus package as “protectionist poison” that would undermine the world economic recovery. Sign up below…and we’ll send you a new investment report for free:“Credit Crisis Report.” “Some countries raised clauses to prioritise the purchase of products of their own countries in their economic stimulus packages,” Yao Jian, a Chinese commerce ministry spokesman, said in February. “We express deep concern about these [measures] … under the current financial crisis, measures issued by all countries should not cause negative impacts, and especially they should not send out wrong messages.” Criticism from China and other trading partners convinced U.S. President Barack Obama to excise the U.S. “Buy American” clause from the stimulus package. “I agree that we can’t send a protectionist message,” Obama said in an interview with Fox News. “I want to see what kind of language we can work on this issue. I think it would be a mistake, though, at a time when worldwide trade is declining, for us to start sending a message that somehow we’re just looking after ourselves and not concerned with world trade.”Also in February, China’s communist government assured its trade partners that foreign and domestic goods would be treated equally in stimulus spending - a statement that has since been challenged by foreign companies who claim they have been ostracized from Chinese stimulus spending. The American Embassy in Beijing pointed out in statements to The Associated Press that Chinese government agencies already are required by law to buy domestically made goods and services whenever possible. Foreign officials have routinely appealed to Beijing to release more details about how companies can win stimulus contracts, but it is not clear whether or not they plan on challenging Beijing’s “Buy China” order. China is required by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to give foreign and domestic firms equally in commercial trade, but Beijing has refused to sign a treaty that would give overseas companies equal rights when bidding for government procurement contracts. That agreement has been signed by the United States and most other major world economies. “China has made such an issue about protectionism with the rest of the world, but it now appears that it can no longer hold itself up as ‘whiter than white’ on this issue,” Ian Crawford, the executive director of the British Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, told The Telegraph. “The UK has maintained very open markets and we would urge and hope that China would do the same.”

Editorial : Why do our politicians keep coddleing the Chinese Government ? In a Word "Greed" ! They are selling the American Worker down the road ! And in so doing, they are selling off America ! All we/workers want is a level playing field.

It is the same as playing a baseball game and China gets three strikes, and America gets two ! It is as simple as that ! Same rules for China as for US NOW !

Tennessee District#8 ~ Recent Votes...6/23/09

Recent Senate Votes :
Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009 - Vote Agreed to (91-5, 3 Not Voting)The Senate gave final passage to this $106 billion bill providing funds for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, sending the bill to the President. Sen. Lamar Alexander voted YES......send e-mail or see bio Sen. Bob Corker voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

Recent House Votes :
Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009 - Vote Passed (226-202, 6 Not Voting)The House approved this bill funding the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Rep. John Tanner voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010 - Vote Passed (259-157, 17 Not Voting)The House passed this $64.4 billion bill to fund the Departments of Commerce and Justice, science agencies, and other related agencies for Fiscal Year 2010. Rep. John Tanner voted NO......send e-mail or see bio

Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2010 - Vote Passed (232-178, 23 Not Voting)The House approved this bill to fund the legislative branch, including $alaries and expense$ of member office$, committee office$, the Capitol Police, the Congressional Budget Office, the Architect of the Capitol and the Library of Congress for Fiscal Year 2010. Rep. John Tanner voted NO......send e-mail or see bio

USWA Local 878-L Union City Tennessee ~ The End of a Era ?

The End of a An Era ?... 6/22/09

By : Don Jones

I have today visited the Union Hall Local 878-L in Union City, it was good seeing some old colleague's and fellow Union workers. It seems that those who are still at it, at the Union Hall are taking the buyout. I really do not blame them. Yet, I hate to see so many senior union officers retire. First Things first, I want to say to all of these men and colleague`s "Thank You"! for all that you have done, past, present and future ! You have served many people very well during your time in office. To,
Harry Alford, President of our local 3 times. Kenneth Rushing, Division Chairman Group#1, my work area in plant. Terry "Buck" Taylor, Division Chairman Group#2 and to who I served with during my tenure on Executive Board. Tim Wilson, Division Chairman Group#3. Brad Cope, Division Chairman, Group#4. James "Mouse" Little, Financial Secretary. Willis "Ground Hog" Hicks, Recording Secretary. As I write this, it has just occurred to me that the entire local negotiating committee is retiring ! This kinda scares me. I just want to Thank all of you again for your time and sacrifice`s that you made in order to serve your local union ! Your experience and knowledge will be sorely missed. Having been there and done what you have for the membership. I commend you on a job, well done ? I wish you all the best in your retirement ! This writer has also learned that Keith Flowers, Financial Secretary will retire in January 2010 and that Jerry Ivey, Pension and Insurance Representative will retire in 22 months. This kind of talent and knowledge is irreplaceable. It is almost like losing all of our experienced machine operators in the plant. Those who follow can learn, but it will take time, and time may be something we do not have ? I would be remiss, if I did not mention Tommy Veasey, past Director of the USWA Local 878L picnic, He along with Kenneth Rushing delivered one of the finest picnic`s in the state of Tennessee ! I would recommend to Todd Tuner, Plant Manager, When reporting to Goodyear Corporate, take into consideration all the talent you have lost ! Not only from the floor of the plant, but from the Local 878-L Union Hall. These men worked for and at the pleasure of its membership ! I have never met a "Good Union Official" who did not want to keep their Company viable and making money, yes, Goodyear that means You and especially the Union City Plant. Once again, gentlemen congratulations on your retirement and God`s speed !

Newscoma ~ on State Senator Roy Herron(D) TN !

Sen. Roy Herron spoke out yesterday about things going on in the State.

Here’s what he said:

“Mr. Speaker, this has been a difficult day.
In the last few hours, we have insulted Tennessee’s two Nobel Peace Prize winners.
Secondly, we have shown the world that some in state government find racism amusing. And now, third, we are about to remove the independence of the Ethics Commission that was created when five legislators were indicted and convicted of bribery.This third action is not ‘third time’s charm,’ ladies and gentlemen.This is another signal we ought not send.This is another action we ought not take.”

I’ll give the dude props as he is my state senator and I’ve roughed him up a bit in the past. Somebody needed to say it.
This isn’t an endorsement, campers.

The above article appeared on http://www.newscoma.com/ my friend and mentor. My Thanks to Senator Herron also ! This too, is not an endorsement !

Goodyear Union City ~ Buyout and Transition...6/21/09

Goodyear Union City Managing Transition:

Anyone who wants an example of the way Goodyear Union City was and is need look no further than the agreed-on sum of money that could be spent in removing the plant from protection against being closed, should either sales or productivity not reach desired levels. In May, Goodyear and the USW agreed to a three-phase plan at the Union City plant. Phase 1, referred to inside the plant as "the buyout," has essentially been completed. If subsequent phases of the plan become necessary, Plant Manager Todd Turner says the total cost for all phases could reach $105 million. "There should be no surprises about what we’re facing," says
Turner. "Our success lies in our ability to be flexible and adjust our production to be in line with market demand for products Union City makes, and ensure our costs are in line as well. "Goodyear has made its intentions known," he adds. "It’s up to us to control the things we control. It’s our responsibility to improve our
operations, become more competitive, and support North American Tire’s business."Presently, Turner says the Union City plant is beating its cost estimates and, overall, the company sees some general strengthening in the replacement market. "It’s important to note that Goodyear is growing market share and our commitment is to ensure the right products are there for consumers to buy so they don’t go somewhere else," says Turner, noting how Union City’s Absolute Schedule Attainment for May was 95 percent. ASA measures whether an operation is stocking the right sizes and types of tires. As Union City positions itself to be a continued contributor to NAT, Turner says more performances are needed similar to May’s ASA results, though he recognizes the plant’s production is likely to fluctuate for the foreseeable future, depending on market demand. He likens the plant’s production schedule to a festoon. Some associates have asked if Union City’s return to a traditional five-day schedule, beginning in July, would end up becoming a six-day schedule. "If we have to work six days , Slab rubber hangs in a festoon pattern before going into Union City’s #9 wigwag unit. Union City’s future production could mirror the festoon, going up and down depending on market demand. Because tires are needed, we’ll do that, and it will be to our credit," says Turner. "What we can’t do is have to work six days because we don’t get our work done in five." Turner adds that the plant needs to break out of the cycle of missing its monthly ticket commitment. After meeting the monthly ticket for more than one year, the plant has missed its commitment twice in 2009. "We can’t fall back into the trend of always coming up a little short each month," says Turner. "We need to end that quickly." To be sure, Turner says no one should think of Union City’s future as gloom and doom. A number of good things are happening. Turner says the plant routinely hosts visitors who come to see progress the plant is making. As an example, Union City’s progress on its extrude rs, which improves the quality of stock, has been recognized as a best practice in NAT.

The above taken out of the Union City Today newspaper !

Editorial : If the employee`s who are taking the buyout are as proficient as I know they are, the above goals will be most difficult to attain, by newer and less experienced employee`s ! Think about it, those tuber operators are Good ! If that tuber hiccups, they know it. A newer and less experienced operator, although trying as he might, cannot be as proficient as those he is replacing from day one ! I pick on the extruder operators because, as you can see, they are and have done a great job !

Goodyear Union City Restructuring ?...6/19/09

Associated Press..

Goodyear taking $60 million Restructuring Charge... 06.19.09

AKRON, Ohio --

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is offering buyout packages to 550 workers at its tire plant in Union City, Tenn., as the company reduces costs due to weak demand. Goodyear, the biggest U.S. tiremaker, said the downsizing will result in an after-tax restructuring charge of approximately $60 million primarily in the second quarter of 2009. The Union City plant is moving from a continuous operating schedule to a five-day, three-shift operation on July 6. In May, United Steelworkers members at the plant ratified a local labor agreement that allows the work schedule change. Goodyear did not disclosed details of the buyout.
The plant can produce about 12 million consumer tires a year for original equipment and replacement tire markets and currently employs about 2,300 workers. The announcement came after the stock market close. Shares of Goodyear rose 15 cents to $12.23 Friday.

Editorial : Is that what you call it ? Restructuring.

China Ruled Against at Last !

Associated Press

US Trade Board rules against Chinese tire makers Associated Press...

06.18.09,

NEW YORK -- A U.S. trade board says Chinese tire makers are unfairly dumping their products on the U.S. market, hurting domestic tire manufacturers and fueling unemployment. Thursday's 4-2 ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission against Chinese tire makers marks a victory for the United Steelworkers union. The union brought the issue to the commission in April, arguing that Beijing has more than tripled its tire exports to the U.S. between 2004 and 2008.The union says the exports have cost more than 5,100 U.S. jobs and have led to factory closures across the country. It commended the ruling in a statement Thursday.The commission is set to determine a policy recommendation on the issue later this month.

USW Lauds ITC Vote Affirming China Tire Import Surge
Looks forward to remedies that will spare U.S. jobs & plants

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The United Steelworkers (USW) said it is pleased that the International Trade Commission (ITC) has moved forward on the union’s Section 421 petition, ruling by a 4-2 vote that a surge of low-priced and unfairly traded consumer tires from China is harming the domestic industry. This import surge has caused major job losses and plant closures in the United States.“Our domestic industries cannot survive unless our government enforces the trade laws designed to curb and dissuade anti-competitive practices that cause market disruptions,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. “We anticipate the remedies that will be delivered to President Obama will allow the time necessary to rebuild the U.S. tire industry.” The President, who made a campaign pledge to crack down on China’s unfair trading practices, will make the final determination on imposing trade relief.
The USW filed a petition with the ITC on April 20 that sought relief under Section 421 of the Trade Act of 1974. Section 421 is a temporary country-specific safeguard that China agreed to as part of its bilateral trade negotiations with the United States leading to its 2001 membership in the World Trade Organization.The USW petition claimed that imports of consumer tires from China increased from 2004 to 2008 by 215 percent in volume and 295 percent by value. In 2008, China exported nearly 46 million consumer tires with a value of more than $1.7 billion to the U.S., making it the largest source of consumer tire imports. While imports nearly tripled by volume during the surge period, domestic production of consumer tires declined by more than 25 percent. During this period, nearly 5,100 U.S. tire workers have lost their jobs as a result of massive erosion in the domestic production that coincided with the massive increases in imports of consumer tires from China. About 3,000 more jobs are slated to be lost by year’s end as three plants are threatened to close. Whether the remedies will be established at a sufficient level to save these jobs and plants is a question that the USW and others await the answer. To combat this egregious trend, the USW believes that the government should impose an import quota on China of 21 million consumer tires used on passenger cars, light trucks, minivans and sport utility vehicles per year. This would return Chinese tire imports to a 2005 level and allow for an increase of five percent per year over a three-year period. “We anticipate that the final decisions on remedies will improve domestic job security, increase production and sales, and allow for investment in capital equipment to better compete in the global market for the long term,” said Tom Conway, USW International Vice President. Conway, chairman of the bargaining committee at Goodyear, said the company has warned the union since 2003 that low-cost imports were threatening its North American operations. “USW-represented tire workers have made painful concessions and the union bargained hard to make sure our plants received the capital investments to stay on the cutting edge of technology and innovation. Without strong remedies from the President, our work will be for naught and the opportunity to build a stronger domestic industry will be lost.”
For more information, including background, testimony and video related to the tire case, visit www.usw.org/tires.

USWA Fighting for its Workers ! China is a Problem !

Washington, D.C. – In a major trade safeguard case against Chinese tire imports, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) will announce June 18 whether such imports are a significant cause of material injury, or threat of material injury to the domestic industry producing passenger vehicle and light truck tires. Under the statute, such a finding is called ‘market disruption.’The ruling is an important step in an expedited proceeding that was initiated by a petition filed April 20 by the United Steelworkers (USW) under Section 421 of the Trade Act of 1974. At a June 2 public hearing, Leo W. Gerard, International President of the USW and ten Members of Congress made a strong case saying an import surge has caused a sharp decline in U.S. production and the loss of thousands of U.S. jobs. The USW argued that job losses will continue if import relief is not provided. Should the ITC determine that the industry is injured by the Chinese imports, it will then vote on a remedy on June 29. Following that step, the ITC will present its report and recommendation to President Obama on July 9. The President’s decision for a remedy on China tire imports is due in mid-September.

WHAT: ITC vote on market disruption caused by imports of passenger vehicle and light truck tires from China

WHEN: Thursday, June 18; about 11:00 am, EDST

WHERE: U.S. International Trade Commission, main hearing room, 500 E Street, SW, Washington, D.C.

The USW represents about 15,000 tire workers at 13 plants in nine states, which accounts for nearly half of the industry’s production capacity in 2008.

For more information on the USW’s trade case against China tire imports: www.usw.org/tires

Editorial : It is really all about greed, and a level playing field on behalf of our workers !

USWA Endorse Richard Trumka !

Contact: Jim McKay, 412-562-2441

Richard Trumka

PITTSBURGH – The United Steelworkers (USW) International Executive Board has unanimously endorsed Richard Trumka as the next president of the AFL-CIO.
Trumka, the federation’s current secretary-treasurer, is looking to succeed retiring AFL-CIO President John Sweeney at its convention in Pittsburgh this September. Trumka was first elected AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer in 1995.
“Not only does Richard have the experience and the intellectual capacity to do the job, he brings great heart and passion to the fight for issues that matter to America’s working families,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard.
“We believe his life-long passion for helping workers, sparked by his own experiences as a third-generation coal miner, makes him the right person for the job.” Steelworkers know Trumka for his willingness to support them and their issues on the picket lines across the country as well as in the halls of power in Washington, D.C. At the USW’s Constitutional Convention last year, Trumka directly confronted the volatile issue of racism in the 2008 presidential campaign. His powerful speech was considered a turning point in President Barack Obama’s campaign and has attracted more than 530,000 hits on YouTube.com.
Earlier this year, Obama named Trumka to the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, chaired by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker.
At 19, Trumka followed his father into the coal mine near his home in Nemacolin, Pa. but continued his education, graduating with a law degree from Villanova University in 1974. Trumka was a staff attorney with the United Mine Workers from 1974 to 1979. He was elected to the board of directors of UMWA District 4 in 1981, and UMWA President in 1982. While president of the UMWA, Trumka led a successful nine-month strike against the Pittston Coal Co. over its refusal to pay into a health and retirement fund. Trumka encouraged non-violent civil disobedience and a sophisticated campaign against corporate Wall Street investors. Trumka chairs the AFL-CIO Finance Committee. He led the creation of the AFL-CIO Capital Stewardship Program to promote the retirement security of working families whose union pension and benefit plans have more than $400 billion in assets and are a major force in global capital markets. Under Trumka’s leadership, the program promotes corporate governance reform, investment manager accountability, pro-worker investment strategies, international pension fund cooperation and trustee education and support.

Editorial : I heard Bro. Trumka as our keynote speaker at our URW Convention in Hollywood Florida, when he was President of the UMW ! OUTSTANDING !

I Get Letters ~ Senator Bob Corker(R)Tennessee

Dear Don, 6/17/09

Thank you for taking the time to contact my office about the high cost of prescription drugs and the Medicare Part D coverage gap. Your input is important to me, and I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts. I understand that the high cost of medications is one of the biggest challenges facing our seniors and others living on a fixed income. Every day, my staff and I talk with people who are struggling financially to provide for themselves while also being able to afford needed prescriptions. I want to assure you that these stories and requests do not fall on deaf ears. You are right that comprehensive health care reform must address prescription drug costs to be effective, and I am working to make sure that these issues are solved in a responsible way. The insight you have provided here will certainly help my staff and me work on this issue more effectively. Thank you again for your letter. I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with me.

Sincerely, Bob Corker(R)

United States Senator ~ Tennessee

Tennessee Donor Service ~ "The Gift of Life"! ~ County Court Clerks

By : Don Jones, Heart-Transplant#189 ~ Vandy

By donating $1.00 when you renew your vehicle's license tags, you can help educate others about the critical need for organ and tissue donations through the Tennessee County Clerks "HELP RENEW LIVES" campaign. If you mail in your renewal, simply add $1 to the registration charge and check the appropriate box indicating your are “adding a dollar for donor awareness”. If you visit your local County Clerk, you may be asked if you would like to donate a dollar for donor awareness; if not, simply tell the staff member you would like to do so.

Together we CAN save lives !

Governor Ned R. McWherter(D)Tennessee, 1987-1995 Monument Fund

Governor Ned R. Mc Wherter(D)Tennessee 1987-1995

By : Don Jones

Pictured above is the Honorable Ned R. McWherter, Governor of Tennessee 1987-1995 ! In This writers opinion, one of the best Governors in my life time. It seems that his home County, Weakley County is going to erect a bronze life sized monument in his honor. I cannot think of a more deserving public servant to do this for ! When the Governor was asked about this, he said, as long as there are no public tax-payer funds used, he would endorse it ! "Thanks" Governor McWherter for all that you did and still do ! If you would like to contribute/donate to this monument in his honor, just click on the title of this article or the link below !

http://www.nedraymonument.com/

Tennessee Racism ? No Place for It !

No Place for Racism ! ...6/15/09

by : Newscoma

Racist And Ridiculous
from Newscoma by newscoma

Late last month, an email went out from an administrative assistant working for a Republican elected official in the legislature here in the state that was titled “Historical Keepsake Photo.” The photo was this: This was sent to me recently by another legislative staffer who was offended by it, as I am. I talked to my local rep, Mark Maddox about it, and described the picture to him at a recent fund raising event. I think he was as appalled as I was. I was going to post it last week but there was a death in my family and I had to think about it. Because it made me mad.
But, you know, people need to know that this stuff is going on. I would be just as angry if a democratic staffer had sent it. Dammit, Tennessee, haven’t we moved past this kind of crap. I’m serious. Leaders and their staffs need to be just that. LEADERS! And they have done a pretty suspect job this year if you ask me.
We live in a world of uncertainty and a lot of hurt. In Tennessee, it’s more important to pass dog bills than the budget. But, I guess we can find the time to send out junk, racist emails. Jeez. Racist imagery matters. I decided to release it because we need to think about our actions. How does this kind of behavior effect our children? It’s just ridiculous and it’s wrong. I expect better of anyone elected to position that my tax dollars pay. I guess I give folks too much credit.
Yes I am on a soapbox and I’m not getting off of the damned thing. Update: The email I received says the staffer is Sherri Goforth, who works for Diane Black.
UPDATED: Christian Grantham talks to Ms. Goforth, who admits she sent the email. When I asked her if she understood the controversial nature of the photo, Goforth would only say she felt very bad about accidentally sending it to the wrong list. When I gave her a second chance to address the controversial nature of the email, she again repeated that she only felt bad about sending it to the wrong list of people.

Editorial : Stay on your soapbox Newscoma, I`m in complete agreement with you on this one ! This lady is not only a racist, but, I`m not sure she realize`s it ? I have received some of these racist cartoons and supposedly funny jokes ! I usually just delete them. I think from now on I will return to sender..saying this crap is unwanted !

Tennessee District#8 ~ Recent Votes...6/16/09

Tennessee District#8 ~ Recent Votes...6/16/09

Recent Senate Votes:

Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act - Vote Passed (79-17, 3 Not Voting)The Senate passed this bill that would give the FDA regulatory authority over tobacco, but would not allow the agency to ban cigarettes or other tobacco products. Sen. Lamar Alexander voted NO......send e-mail or see bio Sen. Bob Corker voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

Recent House Votes:

Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 - Vote Passed (235-187, 11 Not Voting)The House passed this bill that would authorize funding for the Department of State and the Peace Corps through fiscal year 2011. Rep. John Tanner voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Enhancement (PEACE) Act - Vote Passed (234-185, 14 Not Voting)The House approved this bill to authorize democratic, economic and security assistance to Pakistan. Rep. John Tanner voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act - Vote Passed (307-97, 30 Not Voting)The House gave final passage to this bill granting the FDA regulatory authority over tobacco, sending it to the President. Rep. John Tanner voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

Broken Health Care System...Letter to Mike Stanley

Letter from Senator Bill Nelson (D) Fla.

Dear Mr. Stanley:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the health care reform process. Anyone who has battled a major illness knows the system is broken, and we can no longer wait to fix it. The health care industry is massive and complex, and there are a range of ideas on the table for reforming it. Chief among our aims must be to rein in the out-of-control costs of care. This means a new emphasis on wellness and prevention, a recommitment to researching innovative, more effective treatments for diseases, and additional efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs. I introduced the Medicare Prescription Drug Gap Reduction Act (S.266) to reduce the large gap known as the "doughnut hole" that occurs when Part D beneficiaries who have paid pay $2,700 in prescription expenses receive no further benefit until they have racked up a total of $4,350 in out-of-pocket expenses, despite the fact that they never stop paying premiums.Equally important is the issue of the uninsured. Nearly 50 million Americans lack adequate health insurance, and that is unacceptable. I am working toward reforms that would make health insurance available to all Americans through an insurance exchange and would provide subsidies to those who cannot afford coverage. I also believe that Americans should never be denied health insurance or charged exorbitant fees because of a pre-existing condition.Finally, we must ensure that there are enough health care providers in America and that they are adequately reimbursed by Medicare and Medicaid so they can continue providing care to those most in need. I introduced S. 973, the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2007, to address this growing problem. This legislation would expand the number of Medicare-supported physician residency training positions, with an emphasis on funding new primary care residency slots. The number of physician residents eligible for reimbursement has not been altered to reflect changing demand since 1996. I have also fought consistently for fair Medicare reimbursement rates. The task before us is immense, but Americans will rise to the challenge. I will be sure to take your views into consideration as the debate progresses. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future.

Sincerely, Senator Bill Nelson(D)Florida

P.S. From time to time, I compile electronic news briefs highlighting key issues and hot topics of particular importance to Floridians. If you'd like to receive these e-briefs, visit my Web site and sign up for them at http://billnelson.senate.gov/news/ebriefs.cfm or Click on the title !

Editorial : Another contribution from our friend, Mike Stanley !

Social Security Senior`s C.O.L.A

Senior Social Security Co$t of Living Adjustment

Dear Friends, The current economic recession has touched everyone, including our seniors. To help seniors struggling to make ends meet, I am pushing for legislation that would ensure that seniors’ Social Security payments are more in line with the increased expenses seniors face from year to year. As it stands now, seniors usually receive a modest increase in their Social Security checks each year – which is known as a Cost-of-Living Adjustment or COLA. Unfortunately, the way in which the government calculates seniors’ COLA is flawed, because it is based on younger workers’ spending habits, rather than seniors’ spending habits. This flaw can have very costly consequences. In recent years, skyrocketing health care and energy costs have far outpaced Social Security COLAs. Additionally, in March, the Congressional Budget Office forecasted that under the current formula, seniors may not receive a Social Security COLA for the next three years. For the millions of seniors who depend on their Social Security checks to make ends meet, there is no doubt that this would cause a significant financial hardship.To fix this problem, I am pushing for legislation called the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers Act (H.R. 2429). Under this legislation, the government would establish a separate consumer price index for seniors that would better account for the rise in the cost of products that seniors actually use. By more accurately accounting for the rising costs seniors face from year to year, we can make sure that they are getting the COLAs they need and deserve.

Sincerely,

Cong. Jason Altmire (D) Fourth 4th. District-Pennsylvania

P.S. For more information on this issue, please visit my website at www.altmire.house.gov. Or click on the title of this blog.



What is the greatest financial challenge facing today’s seniors?
A. Lost retirement savings due to the stock market’s decline
B. Rising health care costs
C. Declining home values
D. Home heating and air conditioning costs
E. Other
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Editorial : Finally, someone who can and does understand the senior plight ! "Thanks" to Mike Stanley for this.

Health-Care Reform ~ Now ! It May The Key to Our Survival ?

Americans Who've Used Canada's Health-Care System Respond to Current Big-Lie Media Campaign

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Read More: Canada Universal Health Care, Canadian Healthcare, Cbc, Kiro, Single Payer, Tommy Douglas, Universal Health Care, Wall Street Journal, Media News

Comments
The scare ads and op-ed pieces featuring Canadians telling us American how terrible their government health-care systems have arrived - predictably. There's another, factual view - by those of us Americans who've lived in Canada and used their system. My wife and I did for years, and we've been incensed by the lies we've heard back here in the U.S. about Canada's supposedly broken system.
It's not broken - and what's more, Canadians like and fiercely defend it.
Example: Our son was born at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital. My wife got excellent care. The total bill for three days in a semi-private room? $21.
My friend Art Finley is a West Virginia native who lives in Vancouver.
"I'm 82, and in excellent health," he told me this week. "It costs me all of $57 a month for health care, and it's excellent. I'm so tired of all the lies and bullshit I hear about the system up here in the U.S. media."Finley, a well-known TV and radio host for years in San Francisco, adds, "I now have 20/20 vision thanks to Canadian eye doctors. And I haven't had to wait for my surgeries, either."
A Canadian-born doctor wrote a hit piece for Wingnut Central (the Wall Street Journal op-ed page) this week David Gratzer claimed: "Everyone in Canada is covered by a single payer -- the government. But Canadians wait for practically any procedure or diagnostic test or specialist consultation in the public system." Vancouverite Finley: "That's sheer b.s." I heard Gratzer say the same thing on Seattle radio station KIRO this week. Trouble is, it's nonsense. We were always seen promptly by our doctors in Montreal, many of whom spoke both French and English. Today, we live within sight of the Canadian border in Washington state, and still spend lots of time in Canada. Five years ago, while we were on vacation in lovely Nova Scotia, the Canadian government released a long-awaited major report from a federal commission studying the Canadian single-payer system. We were listening to CBC Radio the day the big study came out. The study's conclusion: While the system had flaws, none was so serious it couldn't be fixed.
Then the CBC opened the lines to callers across Canada. Here it comes, I thought. The usual talk-show torrent of complaints and anger about the report's findings.I wish Americans could have heard this revealing show. For the next two hours, scores of Canadians called from across that vast country, from Newfoundland to British Columbia. Not one said he or she would change the system. Every single one defended it vigorously. The Greatest Canadian Ever Further proof: Not long ago, the CBC asked Canadians to nominate and then vote for The Greatest Canadian in history. Thousands responded. The winner? Not Wayne Gretzky, as I expected (although the hockey great DID make the Top 10). Not even Alexander Graham Bell, another finalist. The greatest Canadian ever? Tommy Douglas.
Who? Tommy Douglas was a Canadian politician - and the father of Canadian universal health care.
Wall Street Journal

Editorial : Tommy Douglas was also a ordained Baptist Minister ! And Keifer Sutherlands Grand father, I believe ?

Tennessee District#9 ~ Memphis...Steve Cohen Vs. Willie Herenton ?

Cohen Vs. Herenton ? ? ?

By : Don Jones

It seems that Mayor Willie Herenton has decided he wants to be a Congressman. At least he has announced, he is going to run for congressman in District#9-Memphis TN. It is his right to run. having said that, better take a long look at his record as Mayor of Memphis, not too good ! Then look at Congressman Cohen`s voting record, pretty good ! Congressman Cohen is a down to earth, working mans kinda guy ! Mayor Herenton, on the other hand is a Willie Herenton, kind of guy. Let us hope that people will vote on the record of each man, and vote for Congressman Steve Cohen(D) District#9~Tennessee ! Yes, I`m endorsing Congressman Steve Cohen, on his record alone, he is the only choice.

It`s Health Care, Stupid !

House Releases Its Own Health Care Bill Containing a Public Plan

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) unanimously agree that a public option plan is necessary in providing all citizens with affordable and efficient health care. The Tri-Committee released their health care reform bill this week, also on Tuesday. The bill proposes a Health Insurance Exchange that would include a new public option, as well as current private options.Employers would be able to choose between providing coverage to workers or contributing funds on behalf of their uncovered workers (“play or pay”). Like the Senate bill, the House bill prohibits insurers from excluding patients based on pre-existing conditions. Once this reform is in full effect, insurance will be mandated, excluding cases of hardship. For Medicare, the outline has several Part D improvements: it would shrink the doughnut hole coverage gap; improve low income access; leave out Part D means testing; eliminate Medicare Advantage over payments; and eliminate cost sharing for Medicare preventive services. However, the House bill does not include the CLASS Act for long term care. “The public plan option, coupled with the ‘play or pay’ mandate, is a commendable step in making health care affordable for all.

Editorial : There isn`t one thing that health-care does`nt touch in this country. Health-Care is broken. If we fix/repair health-care, we fix/repair a lot of things. Manufacturing being one of those things. Domino effect.

Goodyear China...Big Time !

Goodyear to Increase Tire Output In China
SHANGHAI - August 15, 2007:

Now that Goodyear Dalian Tire's $140 million (1.06 billion yuan) project is near completion, further expansion is being planned, according to a company official.
"By the end of this year, the daily output of the plant will be 17,000 units," said John Gonsalves, quality and technology manager of Goodyear Dalian Tyre Co. "We plan to increase the output next year," Gonsalves added.The plant was set up in 1995, and expanded in 2001 and 2003. "About 30% of the products will be exported to Asia-Pacific region, Germany, India, Egypt, Israel and North America, however, the total exports are expected to decrease later," Gonsalves said. "China will be our main market rather than export market," he added. Goodyear's customers in China include Chery Automobile, Shanghai VW, FAW-VW, Great Wall Automobile and Brilliance Automobile. Most of the natural rubber used in the plant is imported directly from South East Asia. For more information about the burgeoning auto industry in China please visit

http://www.gasgoo.com/Autobiz/list/7/China-News.html

Editorial : "China will be our main market rather than export market"! Sure, when pigs fly ! Lookout...I think a pig just flew over. Can`t compete with 0.42 per hour and no benefits.

Made in America ~ Better Read The Fine Print...Scamed Again !

Made in America: Corporate PR, Not Practice
by Tula Connell, Jun 11, 2009

Big Business wants it both ways: It wants to wrap itself in the ol’ red, white and blue while feeding the decline of the U.S. economy through its actual practices.
Here’s the latest example of such corporate hypocrisy. Over the Memorial Day weekend, J.C. Penney advertised a silkscreen T-shirt bearing the slogan, “American Made.” Yet when Joe Allen, a retired apparel manufacturer in the Dallas area, bought the T-shirt, he found it actually was made in Mexico—”of USA fabric.”Allen didn’t just shrug off such a blatant sleight of hand. He took action, contacting Steve Capozzola at the Alliance for American Manufacturing. Capozzola sent an e-mail to J.C. Penney, saying that the ad was deceptive and asking why the shirt “was emblazoned with an ‘American Made’ slogan when it was in fact made in Mexico.” Here’s what J.C. Penney spokesperson Kelly Sanchez had to say: You indicate that there was a shirt that depicted the slogan “American Made.” This type of slogan is referring to the actual person wearing the shirt and not to the manufacturing of the merchandise. Being born in America isn’t a big benefit if you can’t find a job in the United States to support yourself and your family. Corporations that lie about the hollowing out of our economy are destroying our middle class. Their enablers, such as teevee blatherer Bill O’Reilly, further the sham when they assert there are no places in the United States where corporations can go to make sure their products are American made. In short, such statements are a lie. Big Business knows the American public overwhelmingly supports products made in America. Earlier this year, when Congress debated adding the “Buy America” provisions to the economic recovery package, 84 percent of the U.S. public said they favored incuding “Buy America” provisions compared with only 4 percent who were strongly opposed, according to a survey by Harris Interactive on behalf of the Alliance for American Manufacturing.The nation’s recent financial collapse should be more than enough proof that our economy can’t survive soley based on non-goods producing industries. As economist Jeff Madrick pointedly puts it: Without something to export, a nation will either become over-indebted or forced to reduce its standard of living.
Joe Allen took action, and so should each of us. Contact corporations and tell them you want their products Made in America. And let us know when you do. We want to write about your actions here.

Editorial : I could have written this ! It is factual and so true !

Foreign Competition ~ They Cheat, Surely Not !

Part of The Level Playing Field ?

United Nations Expert confirms corporate monitoring is a farce!United Nations special representative John Ruggie, also a professor at Harvard University, reported to the United Nations Human Rights Council that even business leaders now confirm that their efforts at monitoring their supply chains have been "ineffective" and "unreliable.""We keep hearing now, from just about everywhere…monitoring doesn't work," said U.N. expert John Ruggie. "Just about everybody, at least off the record will tell you that monitoring of supplier factories doesn't work because people cheat." (See Women's Wear Daily, June 4, 2009)The National Labor Committee has been documenting the miserable failure of voluntary corporate monitoring efforts for nearly 20 years. Nothing will change until corporations are finally held legally accountable to respect local labor laws in the countries in which they produce, as well as the International Labor Organization's labor rights standards-no child labor, no forced labor, freedom of association, the right to organize a union and to bargain collectively, and decent working conditions.President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are all co-signers of an anti-sweatshop bill introduced by Senator Byron Dorgan in the Senate and Congressman Michael Michaud in the House. In the last Congress, there were 26 co-sponsors in the Senate and 176 in the House of Representatives. The United Steelworkers union has been deeply involved in reaching out to members of Congress.If Barbie Doll can be legally protected, by intellectual property and copyright laws, we sure as heck ought to be able to provide similar legal protection to the 16-year-old girl in Indonesia who made Barbie. As things stand now, corporate products-Barbie, Nike's Swoosh, Mickey Mouse-are all protected by enforceable laws backed up by sanctions. But the corporations say that providing similar legal protections to the human beings who make the products would be an "impediment to free trade."We do not have to allow this! If a product is made by children, by forced labor, or is made under brutal sweatshop conditions by workers who are beaten, forced to work grueling hours while being cheated of their wages and denied the right to organize, then that product should be prohibited from being imported into the U.S., sold in the U.S. or exported.The Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act will soon be re-introduced in the new Senate and House. Please tell your members of Congress that human beings deserve to have at least the same legal protections as are currently afforded to corporate products and trademarks. Our economy belongs to the American people every bit as much as it does to the corporations.Let's end the race to the bottom in the global sweatshop economy! If you want to be more involved, please contact us.Thanks.Link: "U.N. Expert Expresses Doubts on Monitoring," by John Zarocostas, Women's Wear Daily, June 4, 2009...

Editorial : This writer has said repeatedly, that the American worker can compete with any workers in the world, as long as the playing field is level ! Folks we cannot compete with 0.42 cents per hour and no benefits ! Our race to the bottom continues !

Weakley County ~ Sue`s Martin TN. Thus Suing Itself !

Weakley County Votes to Sue Itself ?

by : Don Jones...6/10/09

Yes, it has finally happened, we have run out of people to sue, so we have sued ourselves ! Please refer to previous article written on this subject entitled
" Martin TN-Weakley County TN.-WCMES-Annexation"...dated 6-03-09 ! It seems in their infinite wisdom to lead our county, the County Board of Commissioners voted to sue Martin TN. by a vote of 14 yea`s and three nae`s, the three no votes came from Martin. Did I mention that Martin is a part of Weakley County ? It seems that the County is upset with both the Board of Commissioners and the Board that represents the Weakley County Municipal Electric System. One Commissioner stated that, something stinks here ! Commissioner, it sure does, it`s the smell of money ! It seems to this writer that Martin has done what it ought to do ! It also seems that Dresden missed an opportunity. It occurs to this writer that not only does the County Commission have a member on the Board of commissioner's, but said same commissioner is on the WCMES Board ! There seems to be a lack of communication here ! I have always found Commissioner James Westbrook to be a honest and steadfast man. Mr. Westbrook is knowledgeable and forthright, and can see both sides from the inside. Can the County Commission and the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of Martin sit down and reason together ? Lawsuit`s against each other, seem rather non-productive and will only benefit the lawyer`s ! The tax-payer will ultimately pay the bill, one way or the other. The commissioners who represent Martin-Weakley County, voted the only way they could. They voted to not sue their constituents/Countian`s ! The Weakley County Municipal Electric System must bare some responsibility for this mess, by not attending the City of Martin`s Board meeting that discussed their annexation. Again, I say, if I were on the Martin City Board of Aldermen, I would have done exactly the same thing. I would have voted to annex WCMES ! Now, as I`ve said before, do not take this personel. But, you must admit, all of this should and could have been avoided !

I get Letters ~ Bob Corker (R) Tennessee...6/10/09 Employeee Free Choice Act !

Dear Don,

Thank you for taking the time to contact my office to share your support for S.560, the Employee Free Choice Act. Your input is important to me, and I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts. I strongly feel that the middle class is the backbone of the American economy and American society. I agree with you that we must do what we can to ensure that our citizens have good wages and good working conditions. However, I also feel that reasonable people can agree to disagree on the best method for achieving these goals. I am opposed to the Employee Free Choice Act. I am especially troubled by the bill's effective elimination of the secret ballot for union formation. I believe that all organizing efforts should require a secret ballot election - a principle that is central to our democracy. Please know that, especially during this time of economic crisis, I will continue to look for ways to strengthen our economy and our state. At the end of the day, we all want what is best for our country, and I will always keep the well-being of Tennesseans foremost in my mind.Thank you again for your letter. I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with me as I serve you in the United States Senate.

Sincerely, Bob Corker(R)

United States Senator~Tennessee

Editorial : He is for the middle class, I almost laughed my self to death ! The Employee`s Free Choice Act, does not, I repeat does not do away with secret ballot ! This is a republican ploy and no more ! Poor ole Bob, his Mexican employee`s do not deserve a Union, he can pay them less. No, hard feelings Bob, but you are not for the middle working class !

Goodyear & USWA ~ Cincinnati...June 8, 2009

Goodyear and Union Anticipate Less Drama over Talks
Cincinnati...

While Tire sales plummet during global recession, United Steelworkers say saving jobs is top priority...
By Jim Mackinnon Beacon Journal business writer
Published on Monday, Jun 08, 2009

When Goodyear executives and representatives from the United Steelworkers of America start negotiating a new contract today in Cincinnati, both sides will have a lot on their minds.
That will include:
• The deep U.S. and global recession that has caused tire sales to plummet.
• Goodyear's enormous losses — $77 million for 2008 and $330 million in the first three months of this year.
• Continued losses of hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs monthly — although there are signs that losses nationwide may have leveled out.
And then there are still-fresh memories of the 12-week Steelworkers strike of late 2006, when as many as 15,000 union members went to the pickets beginning Oct. 5 to try to force Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. into concessions.The strike ended in late December, when the Akron company and Pittsburgh-based union agreed to create an independent health-care fund, known as a VEBA, to pay for union retiree health benefits. Goodyear agreed to a one-time payment of $1 billion into the VEBA. The agreement also led to the closing of a Goodyear tire plant in Tyler, Texas, and job losses there. Neither side anticipates the same high-level drama in this round of talks. Yes, negotiations probably will be tough, representatives of both sides said. But circumstances are different this time, they said.''Jobs is probably issue No. 1, 2 and 3. Saving jobs is the No. 1 goal,'' said Jack Hefner, president of USW Local 2L in Akron. The amalgamated local represents about 440 Akron-basedSteelworkers who do such things as make NASCAR tires and Goodyear tire prototypes.''Like every set of negotiations, we're looking for a fair and equitable contract,'' Hefner said. ''These are rough economic times. Everybody knows that. I'm sure the company is going to have their wish list. I'm sure we're going to have our wish list. That's what negotiations are all about.''
Other talks The Steelworkers will negotiate later this month in Lexington and Louisville, Ky., with tire makers Bridgestone Americas and Michelin's B.F. Goodrich division. ''Our goal is to reach a fair agreement that will enable Goodyear to be competitive and to have the ability to adapt to a rapidly changing industry,'' said Goodyear spokesman Ed Markey.
In broad terms, the company said its goals include improving productivity and flexibility. Pensions and benefits will be another area where Goodyear seeks changes. As of Dec. 31, Goodyear froze its U.S. salaried pension plans. On its contract-related Web site, http://www.goodyearnegotiations.com, where it posts contract talk-related issues from the company's perspective, Goodyear noted that hourly pensions were not frozen. ''Goodyear has experienced periods of declines in interest rates and pension asset values. As a result, Goodyear's pension plans are significantly underfunded,'' the Web site said.
The site also said that Goodyear ''continues to face double-digit inflation for its medical benefits annually.'' The Steelworkers say the union may do a Web site of its own as part of its plans to keep members up to date throughout negotiations.
Rich Kramer, Goodyear's newly promoted chief operating officer and current president of the North American Tire division, plans to address the negotiations when proposals are exchanged Monday.
Bob Keegan, Goodyear's chief executive, has said the company is planning on cutting 5,000 jobs globally this year, including 3,800 cuts that were made by the end of March. Goodyear has about 71,000 employees worldwide, with 30,000 in the United States. Cost-cutting effort Despite the quarterly and annual losses, Keegan has said Goodyear is positioned well for when the economy turns around. The company continues a cost-cutting campaign that has included negotiating agreements with the Steelworkers to reduce production at three U.S. plants: Topeka, Danville and Buffalo. In answering an industry analyst's question in April about the upcoming contract talks, Keegan said company policy is not to comment about negotiations. He did say, based on recent individual factory negotiations, that Goodyear and the USW have a good working relationship. The company does have ''high-cost capacity'' that still needs to be taken out, he said at the time. The Steelworkers will have a number of issues it wants Goodyear to address, said Stan Johnson, the USW's new international secretary-treasurer. Johnson was a Rubber Worker until that union merged with the Steelworkers.
''I don't think we expect the kind of controversy that arose the last round of negotiations,'' Johnson said. The creation of the VEBA largely resolved the major dispute, he said. ''We will certainly have issues that are important to us,'' Johnson said.Those issues include plant security, such as making sure Goodyear continues to invest significantly in all of its U.S. factories to keep them viable; the protection of retiree benefits; and the two-tier wage system implemented in the current contract, he said. The new two-tier wage system has created obstacles to attracting and retaining workers, he said. The union will be seeking improvements in wages and benefits for its members, while acknowledging the economic realities, Johnson said.''It's a really tough time,'' he said. ''We have the automotive market in near collapse. It's a tough time for both sides.''
Hefner, at Akron-based Local 2L, said he expects the union will take a strike authorization vote early in the proceedings. The vote does not mean a strike is imminent, but but it allows union negotiators to call a strike if they feel it is necessary. Hefner said he hopes that doesn't happen.''Everybody understands we're in this fight together,'' he said. ''Hopefully, we can do it this time without a work stoppage. Hopefully.''

Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.

Jack Hefner, president of the United Steel Workers local 2L, talks about the union and the upcoming negotiations with Goodyear in Akron, Ohio. (Mike Cardew/Akron Beacon Journal)

USWA Local 878 L Union City TN > http://www.uswlocal878l.com/ <>

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. > http://www.goodyear.com/ <>

Goodyear Negotiation Site > http://www.goodyearnegotiations.com <

Editorial : Thanks to Mike Stanley for this !

Tennessee District#8-Recent Votes !...

Recent Senate Votes :

Cloture Motion; Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act - Vote Agreed to (84-11, 4 Not Voting)With this vote the Senate chose to open debate on a bill that would give the FDA regulatory authority over tobacco, but would not allow the agency to ban cigarettes or other tobacco products. Sen. Lamar Alexander voted YES......send e-mail or see bio Sen. Bob Corker voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

Recent House Votes :

Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act - Vote Passed (397-25, 11 Not Voting)This bill would authorize programs, advisory groups and spending to improve security at U.S. airports and rail systems. It also prohibits the TSA from using whole-body imaging machines at primary security checkpoints of airports. Rep. John Tanner voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act - Vote Passed (258-154, 1 Present, 20 Not Voting)The House approved this bill that would provide paid leave to federal employees for 4 of the 12 weeks of parental leave available to them. Rep. John Tanner voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

Goodyear & USWA ~ 2009 Negotiations...

Goodyear's US Plants and Production...

By The Associated Press, 06.08.09

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plants covered by its master contract:

Akron, Ohio: race tires

Buffalo, N.Y.: consumer, commercial truck and motorcycle tires

Danville, Va.: commercial truck and aviation tires

Fayetteville, N.C.: consumer tires

Gadsden, Ala.: consumer tires

Topeka, Kan.: commercial truck and off-road tires

Union City, Tenn : Consumer Tires

SOURCE: Goodyear.

Editorial : Union City better hold on, this is gonna be a bumpy ride !

Goodyear Dalian China ~ You Bet !

The Goodyear Dalian Tire Company Limited and the Bridgestone Tire plant in Shenyang are, according to interviews with the workers, joint ventures with the government of China holding a minority 25 percent share. There are 700 workers in the Goodyear plant and 800 in the Bridgestone facility. Conditions in the two plants are very similar.

Summary :

Approximately 30 percent of the workers are hired on a temporary basis, earning just $0.42 an hour with no benefits and no rights. These workers can be fired for being absent for a single day.

Temp Wage :

$0.42 an hour (.41755) Yes you read correctly, 0.42 an hour ! ! !
$3.36 a day
$16.70 a week
$72.38 a month

The regular staff receive $0.56 an hour--$4.45 a day and $22.27 a week--and benefits, including health insurance, a $12.05 a month retirement pension, free lunch and a housing subsidy equal to their wage.

Regular Staff Wage :

$0.56 an hour (.55674)
$4.45 a day
$22.27 a week
$96.50 a month

Both factories operate around the clock on a 24-hour basis, using three shifts. There is no overtime, and everyone works the legal five-day, 40-hour week.
Once inside the factory, no one is permitted to leave during their shift.

Editorial : Negotiations are gonna be extremely tough in 2009 ! These Chinese workers are kinda like the mine workers were in the early 1920`s, in east Kentucky ! SLAVES !

United Steeelworkers & Goodyear begin Negotiations...

Goodyear, Steelworkers Begin Contract Talks
Associated Press, 06.08.09
AKRON, Ohio --

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the United Steelworkers of America were headed into national contract talks with the recession as a backdrop and job security a key priority. Talks were scheduled to begin Monday in Cincinnati. The three-year contract covering about 10,300 Steelworkers at seven Goodyear plans in the U.S. expires July 18. The Steelworkers said job security would overshadow other issues in contract talks covering workers in Akron; Buffalo, N.Y.; Danville, Va.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Gadsden, Ala.; Topeka, Kan., and Union City, Tenn.
The company wants to improve productivity and flexibility. Bob Keegan, Goodyear's chief executive, has said the company plans to cut 5,000 jobs globally this year, including 3,800 cuts made through March. Goodyear has about 71,000 employees worldwide, with 30,000 in the United States. Steelworkers struck Goodyear for three months in 2006 in a walkout that ended when the Akron-based company and Pittsburgh-based union agreed to create an independent health-care fund to pay for union retiree health benefits. Goodyear agreed to a one-time payment of $1 billion into the fund. The agreement also led to the closing of a Goodyear tire plant in Tyler, Texas.

Editorial : Better tighten your seat belt`s, it`s going to be a bumpy ride ! Ole Bob Keegan, will want another bonus...$$$

Our Jobs Continue to Go Abroad ~ CHINA !

Alabama Tiremakers Want Trade Laws to Limit Chinese Imports
By Dana Beyerle Montgomery Bureau Chief Published: Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at 3:30 a.m.

MONTGOMERY Members of the United Steelworkers union in Alabama are about to learn if President Barack Obama will support them as promised. Obama said he would support trade laws and protect American workers like Shane Mitchell, who works at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. plant in Gadsden Ala. Mitchell was in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to support testimony to the International Trade Commission about cheap imported Chinese tires that he said cost Alabama jobs.
Mitchell and U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt of Alabama said China is not playing fair with its tire exports. Mitchell wants the president to enforce Section 421 of the Trade Act of 1974 and limit imports to 21 million Chinese tires, less than half the number imported last year. Section 421 allows the ITC to determine whether products from China are being imported into the U.S. in such quantities or under such conditions as to threaten a market disruption to domestic producers of the same or competitive products. Many lawmakers voted to allow China to join the World Trade Organization because of Section 421. “Our stance is we have idle plants and laid off workers and if these tires weren’t being imported, we could put that production into our plants and get some of our equipment that is idle back to work,” said Mitchell, the rapid response chief for USW Local 12 in Gadsden. Tuesday’s hearing was the only one scheduled. The ITC will vote June 18 and, if it finds problems, determine a remedy June 29. Obama will get a report by July 9 and could decide what to do by mid-September. “U.S. workers, including many Alabamians, face the prospect of job losses if the current trade laws are not enforced,” said Aderholt, a Republican from Haleyville. Obama criticized President George W. Bush for not limiting imports, but if Obama pursues import limits, it could sour relations with China and result in more requests for trade protection. “This can be really big for us because President Obama has said he will enforce the trade laws,” said Jimmy Price, president of USW Local 351, which represents workers at the BFGoodrich plant in Tuscaloosa. Price said tire production has fallen and American workers have been laid off partly because of Chinese imports. “We can’t compete, there’s no way to compete,” he said. Alabama has tire manufacturing plants in Dothan, Gadsden, Opelika and Tuscaloosa. The plants employ between 3,500 and 5,100 people, according to the Alabama Development Office. Michelin North America owns all but the Goodyear plant in Gadsden. Michelin is closing the Opelika BFGoodrich plant, which employs about 1,000 people, later this year because of falling demand. A Michelin spokeswoman said some jobs may move to Tuscaloosa, which has about 1,425 employees. The Tuscaloosa plant recently recalled about 50 laid off workers.
Meanwhile, the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations on Tuesday announced job assistance for workers at the Opelika plant. “This closing is going to impact a lot of people in the Auburn-Opelika area,” DIR Director Tom Surtees said. Aderholt said Chinese tires are cheaper because their makers don’t follow the same rules. The Goodyear plant is in Aderholt’s congressional district.
“Over the past several years, this [Goodyear] plant and the entire domestic tire industry has faced growing competition from imports of passenger and light truck tires from countries whose governments do not follow the same level of labor, environmental and trade laws as is true for manufacturers in the United States,” he said in testimony for the ITC. “Domestic tire producers are unable to compete with the surge of dumped and subsidized imports that began entering the U.S. market after China’s joining the World Trade Organization.” China increased exports of light passenger and truck tires by 215 percent between 2004 and 2008, the USW said. China exported 46 million tires worth $1.7 billion to the U.S. in 2008, the union said. The USW said more than 5,100 jobs have disappeared since 2004 at four domestic tire plants and another 3,000 more jobs could be lost by the end of 2009 if three more plants close. “If China were limited, that would be more tire [jobs] for us all,” said William Hart, president of USW Local 753 in Opelika. A Chinese tire maker countered by saying U.S. tire makers stopped making cheaper tires, creating opportunities for overseas manufacturers. “The decision by major U.S. tire producers to abandon U.S. production capacity of lower-cost tires preceded — rather than followed — major import increases,” Vic DeIoria, executive vice president of GITI Tire in the United States, said in a statement reported by Reuters news service.

Editorial : I have one big question ? Why do we cater to every whim and all of China`s want`s ? Have we finally reached the position of needing them to build all of our needs ? Clothes, Shoes, Tires, Medicine`s, Steel, Military uniforms etc. etc. etc. The Race to the bottom is almost complete ! Excuse me, I do not want to hear the common lie, that is the common answer from our politicians, Trade Wars ! That`s a bunch of hooey > "That`s a Load of Crap"!

Thanks to Mike Stanley, for this one !

Workers Get Respect at Last !

Obama team skipping mayors' event over picket line
By BEN FELLER
The Associated Press
Friday, June 5, 2009

WASHINGTON -- The White House says Vice President Joe Biden and members of President Barack Obama's Cabinet will skip a national conference of mayors in Rhode Island next week to avoid crossing the picket line of a local labor dispute. The U.S. Conference of Mayors will be held in Providence, where Mayor David Cicilline is in a long-standing fight with local firefighters over contract issues. Cicilline plans to host the gathering in his own city, and firefighters plan to form a picket line. Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs told The Associated Press that the administration is taking no position on the labor dispute itself. But, he said, "We have always respected picket lines, and administration officials will not cross this one."

Editorial : At last an administration that has some respect for the working class !

Health Care Reform Now !

Senators Baucus, Kennedy Offer Different Visions for Health Care Reform

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the Senate Finance Committee have adopted different views on health care reform. The chairs of each committee, Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Max Baucus (D-MT), respectively, are spearheading the reform, and it is clear how their committees have shaped their priorities. Kennedy has advocated a separate government entity, one that is closely modeled off Medicare, while Baucus believes this public plan should be used as a last resort if insurance companies are unable to provide affordable coverage within the next few years. “Private insurers have proved to be inadequate in their coverage. More often than not, someone who is in desperate need of care will be turned away because of pre-existing conditions,” commented Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance. Hospital executives and doctors appreciate that private insurers can offer them substantially more money than a public insurance option. On Wednesday, Baucus met with single-payer activists, some of whom were arrested last month for disrupting Finance Committee health care hearings. President Obama has expressed his support for a public insurance option, working alongside private industries, as a way to expand coverage to all Americans.

Editorial : There will be a coming together and compromise. The only roadblock, will be the Republican Senate !

Banks ~ now Loan Sharks ~ You Bettcha !

Social Security and VA Benefits Inadequately Protected in Banks

A loophole in federal banking rules exists, allowing nefarious creditors to garnish retirees’ Social Security and Veterans’ benefits. While federal law is designed to protect these benefits from most creditors, several bill collectors have legally manipulated banks into temporarily freezing their customers’ accounts while the issue is sorted out. This ploy by creditors has intensified since the substantial increase in direct deposit, which is used by 80% of Social Security recipients. Lawmakers from both parties are calling upon the Obama Administration to issue new, tighter regulations to prevent some banks from seizing funds that were placed in an account via direct deposit. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, and other lawmakers have introduced a bill that would stop further promotion of the direct deposit programs for Social Security and veterans' benefits until the Treasury Department issues rules to protect the benefits from creditors. “The Alliance recognizes the vulnerability of direct deposit for retirees, and it is imperative that we press the Department of Treasury to close this existing loophole,” said Barbara J. Easterling, President of the Alliance, in support of Sen. Kohl’s bill.

Editorial : Banks have now become everything, but banks ! Better read the fine print, they will loan shark you in a heartbeat !

Richard Kramer ~ New Chief Operating Officer, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

Goodyear names executive to assume new COO post
Associated Press, 06.04.09 ~ AKRON, Ohio --

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said Thursday its board has named Richard J. Kramer the company's chief operating officer, a new role that Kramer will hold as he continues as president of Goodyear's North American tire business until his successor in that post is named. Kramer's appointment as COO reporting to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert J. Keegan takes effect immediately.
Kramer, 45, joined Akron-based Goodyear as vice president of corporate finance in 2000 after 13 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he served in a variety of roles in the U.S. and Europe. In 2004, Kramer was elected chief financial officer and executive vice president at Goodyear. He assumed his current post running Goodyear's North American tire business in March 2007. North American Tire is the company's largest business unit, with 2008 sales of $8.3 billion, or 42 percent of the company's $19.5 billion in annual sales. "Rich's appointment as chief operating officer reflects our game plan of having a laser focus on operations globally during these extraordinary times," Keegan said. Goodyear shares rose 18 cents to $11.99 in morning trading.

I Get Letters ~ Senator Bob Corker (R) Tennessee

6/03/09

Dear Don,

Thank you for contacting my office to share your concerns about the need to change U.S. policy toward Cuba. Your input is important to me, and I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts. Like you, I would like to see the people of Cuba completely freed from the oppression they have experienced under Fidel Castro. With Cuba's leadership transferred to Raul Castro, I am hopeful that there will be positive change within the government, and that this change will continue to bring opportunities for the U.S. to reevaluate our policies toward Cuba. In this regard, the Obama Administration recently changed a few aspects of U.S. policy to allow unlimited family travel and remittances to Cuba. The Administration also intends to increase telecommunications links with Cuba and to expand the scope of eligible humanitarian donations. Additional changes to our policy are being considered by both the House and the Senate. As I continue to serve in the United States Senate and through my work on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I will certainly keep your concerns in mind, as my colleagues and I evaluate all possible policy options regarding our future relationship with Cuba. Thank you again for your letter. I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with me over the course of my term.

Sincerely,

Bob Corker (R) Tennessee
United States Senator

Martin TN ~ Weakley County TN ~ WCMES - Annexation ?

Weakley County ~ Dresden ~ Martin ~ WCMES

By : Don Jones...6/03/09

I have today read the local newspapers, Dresden Enterprise and Weakley County Press about the City of Martin Tennessee and Weakley County Tennessee, in which Martin is a part of, in regard to the argument/fight about tax`s ! Kinda reminds me of a pack of dogs fighting over a bone. The Weakley County Municipal Electric System is moving out of the City limits of Martin = Loss tax base to Martin ! WCMES serves the entire county, that includes Dresden, Greenfield, Sharon and all other municipalities and county residents ! WCMES has moved, supposedly to better serve the entire county ? oh yes, lest we forget WCMES buys power from Tennessee Valley Authority. TVA just this past spring has had a ton of problems, from waste spills to giving their CEO Tom Kilgore a 1/2 million dollar raise, he now makes over 3 1/2 million dollars per year, not to shabby for a government agency ! In todays letters to the editor, in the papers, one individual says he is going to boycott Martin, because they are selfish. I`m sure that Martin does not want to lose the revenue/tax`s that WCMES puts in their coiffures ? Now, the question becomes, did Martin beat the County and Dresden to the punch ? Reminds me of the Charter T.V.(Cable) once some County residents paid the City of Martin a franchise fee, now if you live in the county it goes to the county. We wonder why the world is in such a turmoil, one country can`t get along with another ! Look no further than this county, we can`t get along with the next town ! Dresden does`nt like Martin, Martin does`nt like Dresden, Greenfield does`nt like anybody...it just goes on and on ! Meanwhile there just isn`t enough tax money to go around ! Thus the fight continues. Ultimately, the tax-payer pays for everything. This is no different. So, here we go, lawsuit`s are being filed by WCMES The County Commission is exploring the idea of a lawsuit. At this point, Dresden is remaining silent, well almost. Martin has annexed the property the new WCMES building is being built on. Once the lawyers get involved, and guess who pays for them ? You got it, us/tax-payers. So, the saga continues. I will write more, when I find out who wins, and we certainly know, it won`t be the tax-payer ! Having said all this, I too, if I were on the Martin City Board and Mayor, would have annexed WCMES. Please don`t take it personnel. If you would like to express your opinion to your County commision, click on the title of this article, or the link below. If you want to express your opinion to the Mayor and Board of aldermen click on City of Martin. P.S I today received my fire fee notice of $100.00, I will happily pay it !

Weakley County > http://www.weakleycountytn.gov/ <

<> http://www.cityofmartin.net/

Shutting Detroit Down = Should Be Named Shutting The Country Down !

Check out this Video Featuring Mickey Rourke and Kris Kristofferson

I urge you view the complete video and then multiply Big John, by thousands across the country and then, look closely at the end at the abandoned Tires !

Shutting Detroit Mi/Union City TN Down ! ?

Click on title of this article or the link below !

http://heavens-gates.com/usworkers/

Goodyear Union City...Buyout Window Closes

Goodyear Buyout Phase 1 Complete ?

Goodyear Union City’s buyout opportunity closed with 518 associates signing up to accept Goodyear’s offer. An additional 30 inactive associates will be included in the final number. Beginning June 2, associates who submitted applications can check plant bid boards for buyout awards. Associates who plan to retire as a result of the buyout can schedule retirement meetings in the human resources organization beginning June 9. "This phase of the transition process is complete," said Plant Manager Todd Turner. "Our focus now must be on implementing a new production schedule and improving our productivity to levels consistent with organizations that operate in a global environment in order to ensure Goodyear Union City’s operations remain viable. "Making the Union City plant
successful into the future will require a total team effort, driven by a willingness by all to put aside the past, and operate the plant in a totally new and more
productive manner going forward," Turner said. "Anything less will greatly reduce our chance of success." Turner noted that Goodyear’s presence in Union City is valued, and the plant’s challenge is to deliver to its commitments and continue to earn the customers’ trust every day, remain viable.

The above article was taken in its entirety out of the Union City Today`s Newsletter ! If you read carefully especially the highlighted area, you will see that Union City is now in competition with China ! I`m not sure , even though, we have the most productive employees in the world at Union City, that we can compete with China, unless we/you are willing to lower your standard of living and work harder for less ? Our race to the bottom continues ! Corporate America is selling us off, one piece at a time in the name of profit`s earned this quarter.

Big Lies About Heathcare Reform...

Here Come the Big Lies About Health Care Reform
by Mike Hall, May 28, 2009

We noted a few days ago how the private insurance industry was set to unleash its attack dogs on health care reform to try to kill a public health insurance plan option as part of President Obama’s health care reform initiative. Those dogs have started to bark. Yesterday, the fake group, Americans for Prosperity (AFP)—another one of those astroturf names meant to appeal to All of Us—launched a $1.7 million TV ad campaign claiming we may all die if Obama’s health care reform proposals are enacted. The ads don’t even skirt the neighborhood of the truth, but then, as Robert Borosage wrote last week, the health care industry has a long history of “trying to scare the hell out of Americans” when it comes to health care reform.The ads conjure up the boogeyman of a “government-run” health care system where patients will die as their cancerous tumors grow to fatal stages while they wait months to receive care. Scary stuff. Phony, but meant to scare us all. A public health plan option has won the endorsement of major health care groups and many senators and representatives and is a key component of the AFL-CIO’s health care reform principles. It would provide workers who have private insurance and those without insurance a choice in coverage: Stay with their private plan or choose the public plan option. It would also—which scares the hay out of the private insurance industry—provide some competition for an industry that has secured a near-monopoly of the market and recorded record profits, while we are paying more for less care. The Wall Street Journal reports that another group, Conservatives for Patients’ Rights, is buying air time for a 30-minute Sunday morning infomercial featuring “horror stories” about the Canadian and British health care systems and warning the U.S. government is about to take over health care here. Like AFP’s campaign, that message doesn’t even have a nodding acquaintance with the truth. But a key Republican strategist says the truth doesn’t matter when it comes to fighting health care reform. BTW, most Republican lawmakers have decried a public plan option with strikingly similar, and just as phony, arguments. Think Progress reports that lies about health care reform are not going to go away anytime soon. In an interview with The New York Times, conservative pollster Frank Luntz admitted that he would continue raising the false specter of a ”Washington takeover” of health care—whether or not that was Obama’s actual proposal. “I’m not a policy person. I’m a language person,” Luntz said. Click here for a detailed look at the blueprint for the propaganda campaign against health care reform. The truth may set you free, but a big lie just might protect Big Health Insurance Companies’ big profits.

United Auto Workers, Make Another Sacrifice...

UAW Likely to Approve Deal with General Motors

A majority of rank-and-file members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) will likely approve a ratified agreement with General Motors Corp. (GM) that will give the union a stake in the U.S. automaker in return for concessions, according to initial tallies. The company is expected to file bankruptcy in the next few days. Under the terms of the amended agreement, the UAW would receive half of the $20 billion GM owes a union-aligned healthcare trust in the form of stock and new debt, instead of cash. A trust fund run by the United Auto Workers union would have a 17.5% stake in the new GM. A concession included in the tentative deal is the elimination of dental, vision and some prescription drug coverage for hourly retirees. UAW also would hold a seat on the GM board of directors. However, the deal will leave hundreds of thousands of GM retirees paying higher out-of-pocket medical expenses, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Editorial : Once again, it is the on the floor hourly worker(UAW) making sacrifice`s to save GM, Thus saving America !! While Rome burns, Nero plays ! God Bless The United Auto Workers !

Beware of Insurance Co.`s Wanting to Help !

Be Careful When the Insurance Industry Says It Would Like to Help !

According to the AFL-CIO blog, profits at ten of the country’s largest publicly traded health insurance companies rose 428 percent from 2000 to 2007, while consumers paid more for less coverage. One of the major reasons, according to a study by the group "Health Care for America Now," is the growing lack of competition in the private health insurance industry, which has led to near monopoly conditions in many markets. The report says such conditions warrant a Justice Department investigation, and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) says that it provides compelling evidence of the need for a public health insurance plan option as part of the health care reform initiative President Obama and Congress are developing. “A public health plan option is a key component of the Alliance’s health care reform principles,” said Barbara J. Easterling, President of the Alliance, agreeing with Sen. Schumer. Recently, the insurance industry has begun lobbying Congress to block the public plan option. Last Friday, Paul Krugman wrote in The New York Times about the “medical-industrial complex” making a big show of working with President Obama on health care reform, but then double-crossing those whom they pretended to support. “Even as they met with the president, pretending to be cooperative, insurers were gearing up to play the same destructive role they did the last time health reform was on the agenda,” Krugman wrote, referring to a May 11 meeting at the White House. White House officials had announced after the meeting that major players in health care, including the American Hospital Association and the lobbying group America's Health Insurance Plans, had united to support a national effort to control health care costs. However, just three days later, the hospital association insisted that it had not, in fact, promised what the president said it had promised. And the head of the insurance lobby said that the idea was merely to "ramp up" savings. Also last week, The Washington Post reported that Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina was preparing to run a series of ads attacking the public plan option. The ads show troubled Americans being denied their choice of doctor, or forced to wait months for appointments. "The insurance companies' interest groups came to the table pledging support, but are actually trying to block reform," said Ruben Burks, Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. The Wall Street Journal reports that another group, Conservatives for Patients’ Rights, is buying air time for a 30-minute Sunday morning infomercial featuring “horror stories” about the Canadian and British health care systems and warning the U.S. government is about to take over health care here. For more on the insurance companies’ ads, visit the AFL-CIO blog at http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/05/28/here-come-the-big-lies-about-health-care-reform/#more-14523.

Weakley County Tennessee ~ Republicans Feeling Their Oats !

From My Friend Newscoma !

The Tennessee Election Commission
Posted by newscoma Posted in Politics, Tennessee Posted on 28-05-2009

Joe Lance takes a very detailed look at the Tennessee Election Commission.
Recently, a woman here who had been administrator of elections for a long while was replaced because she was a democrat. She’d been in office since the early 80s.
When we talked to the head of the local GOP party(DAVID HAWKS), he said simply, “It’s our time.”
Lance expands on this discussion. Here’s a question: Why are election commissions defined in partisan terms anyway? I get that it matters when one or the other party controls the actual legislative bodies, and, to a slightly lesser degree, the administration; and I understand that there’s a good chance that anyone interested in being a commissioner would likely have a personal party preference; but to spell out “there shall be one more of thesethan of those if these are in power in the House” and so forth seems wholly unnecessary in terms of selecting good, honest men and women to fill the role. And here’s the answer: The Tennessee Democratic Party, which did control the Legislature for generations, sought to extend its grip on power even further, and brought this partisan rule into existence. This occurred decades ago (citation needed, as the ‘pedia says), but, as surely all but the most optimistic realized, the tables would eventually turn; and now they have. The Republicans, for their part, are seeming just a little too eager to grab the electoral reins. Maybe they are hedging their bets against a possible loss in the 2010 elections. In that case, waiting until 2011 would do them no good. Maybe they’re just tired of waiting. It’s all a little disturbing, though. Do them no good ? What “good”? Why should either (no, make that any) political party expect an advantage to come out of the election commission? In many ways, it’s a game of chess. On the other hand, Lance questions the functionality of the election commission in his excellent post. Why should either party get to be the bully on the block? And here is a breakdown of the Tennessee Attorney General Ruling on the issue. The Tennessee attorney general issued an opinion last week that said “a court could find that the dismissal of a county administrator of elections solely on the basis of political party affiliation constitutes a violation of that individual’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution.” The AG’s opinion went on to say, however, if a county election commission can show it has delegated “broad discretionary policy making authority” to the administrator of elections, a court could find that political affiliation is “an appropriate requirement for the effective performance of that particular administrator’s position.” I smell lawsuits for both sides of the aisle in the wind with that open-ended ruling from the AG.

Editorial : Mr. David Hawks is the current Chairman of the Republican party in Weakley County. The now in charge republicans re-placed the current election board administrator, with the former Republican County Chairwoman ! How is that for cronyism ? You would think that the Republicans would learn by now ?

Universal Health Care ~ YES !

Health Insurance Profits Soar as Industry Mergers Create Near-Monopoly
by Mike Hall, May 27, 2009

Profits at 10 of the country’s largest publicly traded health insurance companies rose 428 percent from 2000 to 2007, while consumers paid more for less coverage. One of the major reasons, according to a new study, is the growing lack of competition in the private health insurance industry that has led to near monopoly conditions in many markets. The report says such conditions warrant a Justice Department investigation and, says Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), provide compelling evidence of the need for a public health insurance plan option as part of the health care reform initiative President Obama and Congress are developing. Schumer says the report from Health Care for America Now! (HCAN)
is the starkest evidence yet that the private health care insurance market is in bad need of some healthy competition. A public health insurance option is critical to ensure the greatest amount of choice possible for consumers. According to the recently released HCAN report, “Premiums Soaring in Consolidated Health Insurance Market“: In the past 13 years, more than 400 corporate mergers have involved health insurers, and a small number of companies now dominate local markets but haven’t delivered on promises of increased efficiency. According to the American Medical Association, 94 percent of insurance markets in the United States are now highly concentrated, and insurers are thriving in the anti-competitive marketplace, raking in enormous profits and paying out huge CEO salaries. These mergers and consolidations have created a marketplace where a small number of larger companies use their power to raise premiums—an average of 87 percent over the past six years—restrict and reduce benefit packages and control and cut provider payments. In a letter to the Department of Justice’s Anti-Trust Division, Richard Kirsch, HCAN national campaign manager, and David Balto, former policy director of the Federal Trade Commission and now senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, write: Simply put, the private insurance companies have secured monopolies or tight oligopolies and exercised that power to put profits ahead of patients….There were no actions taken against anticompetitive conduct by health insurers in the last administration, in spite of the fact that cases by state attorneys general have secured massive fines against these insurers. A lack of antitrust enforcement has enabled insurers to acquire dominant positions in almost every metropolitan market. They ask for an investigation of the already consummated mergers that “harm competition or create an anticompetitive market structure.” They also urge the Justice Department to conduct investigations of “anticompetitive conduct by dominant insurance companies and challenge that conduct where appropriate.” Many dominant insurers limit the ability of providers to choose rival insurers or inform patients about more efficient and comprehensive coverage. The DOJ should investigate tools used to stifle competition such as physician gag clauses, most favored nations provisions, all-products clauses, and silent networks, which prevent providers and consumers from having the full range of competitive alternatives. Schumer last week co-sponsored a Senate resolution urging the creation of a public health plan option and says a public health plan “is critical to ensure the greatest amount of choice possible for consumers.” We believe that it is fully possible to create a public health insurance plan that delivers all the benefits of increased competition without relying on unfair, built-in advantages. If a level playing field exists, then private insurers will have to compete based on quality of care and pricing, instead of just competing for the healthiest consumers. Click here for a copy of the full report. Tell us what you think should be included in comprehensive health care reform. Take the 2009 Health Care for America Survey. The survey gives you the opportunity to make your voice heard and helps shape health care reform to meet the needs of working families.
Tags: Charles Schumer, HCAN, health care, Health Care for America Now, health care reform, labor, private insurance, public plan option, union, union blogs, unions Channels: Legislation & Politics

Editorial : I thought the following comment said it all ! It seems that Senator Schumer (D) New York, Knows !

1 Comment
True Democrat on 28.05.2009 at 14:36 (Reply)
HR 676:The United States National Health Care Act (USNHC) establishes a unique American universal health insurance program with single payer financing. The bill would create a publicly financed, privately delivered health care system that improves and expands the already existing Medicare program to all U.S. residents, and all residents living in U.S. territories. The goal of the legislation is to ensure that all Americans will have access, guaranteed by law, to the highest quality and most cost effective health care services regardless of their employment, income or health care status. In short, health care becomes a human right. With 47 million uninsured Americans, and another 50 million who are underinsured, the time has come to change our inefficient and costly fragmented non-system of health care.

I Send Letters...John Tanner, District#8-Tennessee

Dear Mr. Tanner ; 5/27/09

I received your letter dated May 15, 2009 in answer to a letter, I supposedly wrote ? in regard to the (EFCA)"Employee Free Choice Act"! In your letter you stated that my letter of opposition would be noted. Somewhere there has been a communications glitch. Let me state emphatically, I AM 100% in FAVOR of This legislation EFCA ! I support it with every fiber in my body. I agree with the President, there can be no economic recovery without free democratic trade unions.They are and have been for a longtime, the backbone of our free nation ! So, in closing Bro. Tanner, I encourage you to vote and support this most important piece of legislation, "The Employee Free Choice Act"! With warmest and fraternal regard, I remain

<>ATSA<> Don Jones, underdog = http://wwwsecondchance.blogspot.com/ <