May 26, 2013

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Harold Koh calls on White House to appoint Gitmo envoy

May 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

This is pretty huge, coming from the State Department’s former Legal Adviser, and the former Dean of Yale Law. Koh’s brother, Dr. Howard Koh, remains on at HHS as Assistant Secretary. From Politico:

“First, and foremost, he must appoint a senior White House official with the clout and commitment to actually make Guantanamo closure happen. There has not been such a person at the White House since Greg Craig left as White House Counsel in early 2010. There must be someone close to the president, with a broad enough mandate and directly answerable to him, who wakes up each morning thinking about how to shrink the Guantanamo population and close the camp,” Koh said Tuesday at Oxford, England in remarks reported on the Lawfare blog.

Koh also called for a civilian courts and judges to Gitmo, and endorsed drone authority, while acknowledging that administrative secrecy is undermining their efforts:

“To be candid, this administration has not done enough to be transparent about legal standards and the decisionmaking process that it has been applying. It had not been sufficiently transparent to the media, to Congress, and to our allies. Because the administration has been so opaque, a left-right coalition running from Code Pink to Rand Paul has now spoken out against the drone program, fostering a growing perception that the program is not lawful and necessary, but illegal, unnecessary and out of control,” Koh declared. “The administration must take responsibility for this failure, because its persistent and counterproductive lack of transparency has led to the release of necessary pieces of its public legal defense too little and too late.”

–Caroline

Filed Under: Caroline, Civil Rights/Liberties, Culture

Public hospitals in NYC charge less for Medicaid care than private, hospital closings & the safety net

May 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

The NYTimes has a new article out on the discrepancy amongst hospitals and what they charge for Medicaid procedures. This isn’t a new topic (Stephen Brill did a great piece on it called “Bitter Pill” and patient advocates have known this for a long time), but the government released new comparison data on 3,000 hospitals nationally. In the NYC area, it’s unsurprising – the public Health & Hospitals Corporation (HHC) hospitals charge less than the US average for Medicaid services. The private hospitals charge anywhere from 1-2 times the US average, to more than that. Unsurprisingly, because the public safety net hospitals try not to gouge their patients, their finances are also suffering. Of the hospitals that have closed or that are on the chopping block, many are HHC hospitals.

Some of the hospitals that charge less than the US average: Bellevue, King’s County, Harlem, Downtown, Elmhurst, Flushing
Some that charge 1-2x the US avg: NYU Medical Centers, NY Presbyterian, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt, Beth Israel, UMDNJ
Some that charge > 1-2x US avg: Robert Wood Johnson Rahway, Long Island Jewish

Let’s have a conversation about what hospitals price gouge versus perform a public service the next time the state decides to put together Berger Commission part 2 to close hospitals. Because that analysis was incredibly short-sighted and determined that there were too many hospital beds in the event of an emergency. Of course, they thought we would still have access to all bridges and tunnels in the event of an emergency. So when Hurricane Sandy hit, Manhattan hospitals had to transfer within the island. But there weren’t enough beds to transfer patients to, so it took longer to remove all the patients from the waterlogged hospitals. I would hope that this is a serious consideration the next time around.

It’s easy to make money by overcharging. It’s harder to keep hospitals afloat when you are committed to public service, harder to justify grossly overcharging for things from basic bandages to complicated, costly procedures.

–Caroline

Filed Under: Caroline, Economy, Healthcare, New York

AAA Fund NYC hosting APA immigration townhall tomorrow

March 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Editor’s Note: I strongly encourage all to attend this tomorrow but if you cannot attend in person, watch the ustream which archives the event. You may have noticed our growing & steady attention to this all-important topic.

Editor’s Update: There’s another one Monday, May 21 per apamayoralforum2013.eventbrite.com.

The forum is expected to draw interest from many in the community. Simultaneous translation via headsets will be available for speakers of Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Urdu, Bengali and Nepali.

The APA Community Town Hall forum comes at a critical juncture where 2013 represents our best chance in decades to win “real” immigration reform. Our APA Table of New Yorkers for Real Immigration Reform brings together over 20 Asian-led and serving organizations, working with the larger statewide campaign of over 150 labor, faith, grassroots and immigrant organizations unified to pass a progressive and comprehensive immigration reform bill this year.

WHEN: 7:00PM, Thursday, March 28, 2013
6:30PM (Pre-Event Reception)

WHERE: LaGuardia Community College
Little Theater
31-10 Thomson Ave.
Long Island City, NY 11101

WHO: Speakers from the APA Table of the “New Yorkers for Real Immigration Reform” Campaign, community members, and advocates (see below for complete list).

Adhikaar, Alliance of South Asian American Labor, Asian American Action Fund, Asian American Arts Alliance, Asian American/Asian Research Institute, Asian American Bar Association of New York, Asian Americans for Equality, Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance of AFL-CIO, APICHA Community Health Center, Chinese-American Planning Council, Chinese Progressive Association, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, Damayan Migrants Workers Association, Desis Rising Up and Moving, Gay Asian & Pacific Islander Men of NY, Hamilton-Madison House, Kalusugan Coalition, Korean American Association of Greater New York, Korean American Family Service Center, Korean American Association of Queens, Korean Americans for Political Advancement, Korean American Business Council of New York, Korean Community Services of Metropolitan NY, MinKwon Center for Community Action, OCA-New York, Pilipino American Unity for Progress, Q-WAVE, Queens Community House, Richmond Hills EDC, South Asian Lesbian and Gay Association of New York City, South Asian Council for Social Services, South Asian Americans Leading Together, South Asian Youth Action, The Philippine Nurses Association of New York, United Chinese Association of Brooklyn, Wonkwang Community Service Center, 1199SEIU (list in formation as of March 25, 2013)

Filed Under: AAA Fund, Caroline, Immigration, New York

67 Republicans voted against hurricane relief

January 6, 2013 By 1 Comment

For the record, 67 Congressmembers voted against Hurricane Sandy relief. They were all Republican. (Click here for a list. Surprise! It includes Rep. Paul Ryan – keep that in mind, wealthy GOPers in NY/NJ when he comes around fundraising for his presidential run.)

Sandy relief deniers map

Let me remind folks, this wasn’t the full bill, this was just the part that allows FEMA to distribute more aid to owners of destroyed business owners and the like. This was about 1/6 what the region actually needs. But of course, it might not have happened at all.

Originally, Congress was supposed to vote on the bill the same day as the fiscal cliff vote. House Speaker Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) disgracefully had promised that he would put the Sandy relief bill to a vote and then yanked it after the fiscal cliff vote divided his members. Boehner also yelled at a concerned Republican member, “I’m not speaking with you people!” before heading off the floor.

The recent vote only happened after a massive shame campaign by Republican and Democratic officials from New York, including most notably Rep. Peter King (R-Long Island.) Rep. King went on a long, impassioned tirade about how he might leave the Republican party and said that New York and New Jersey residents should stop fundraising for the House Republicans.

He expected the political consequences would include “Republican seats in the Northeast that I think were lost last night” due to the House leadership’s move.

“There are a number of Republicans who may be able to kiss their seats goodbye because of what was done to them, not because of what they did, but what was done to them,” he said. “Because the issue is if you can’t provide the most basic assistance for your district, who needs you in Congress?”

Of course, now that Boehner held the vote, things seemed to have smoothed over. But I think that this is an object lesson for folks. The GOP does not care about blue states. In fact, if you look at the Atlantic’s map of the most numbers of Republicans who voted against hurricane relief, it’s interesting to note that some of these members hail from hurricane-prone Texas and tornado-prone states like Tennesee and Kansas. But you don’t see NY and NJ Congressmembers refusing to vote for aid for victims of natural disasters.

It’s pretty small-minded to vote against helping out victims of natural disasters because you don’t like the overall politics of the state or you don’t agree with the size of government. Frankly, natural disasters can happen anywhere. Let’s not blame the folks who are simply trying to rebuild their homes and lives.

UPDATE: Jon Stewart points out Rep. Steve Palazzo (R-Mississippi) in particular as being very biased – just last year he asked for additional FEMA funding for his constituents who are still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which happened seven years ago. But he voted against additional FEMA funds for victims of Hurricane Sandy, which happened 2 months ago. And yes, people are still dealing with Sandy because no money has come through.

Stewart also points out in lovely, concise, Lewis Black fashion that there is no pork in the FEMA aid bill – the bill is 2 paragraphs on one page.

–Caroline

Filed Under: Caroline, New York

Hawaii Senate appointment named

December 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

HI Gov. Abercrombie selected his Lt Gov Brian Schatz as Senator Dan Inouye’s replacement in the Senate. Inouye had, in his last request, asked for Rep. Colleen Hanabusa to be named his replacement.

Hawaii News Now:

Schatz, 40, was elected lieutenant governor in 2010. He ran unsuccessfully to succeed U.S. Rep. Ed Case in Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional seat in 2006. Schatz served as CEO of Helping Hands Hawaii, a nonprofit social service agency on Oahu. Between 1998 and 2006, Schatz spent eight years in the state House of Representatives, representing the 25th district of Tantalus, Makiki and McCully.

In 2008, he served a spokesman for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in Hawaii. That same year, he was elected chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawaii.

During a meeting earlier Wednesday to select the three finalists for Gov. Abercrombie to choose from, members of the Hawaii Democratic Party voted 48 times for Schatz, 42 for Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa and 39 for attorney Esther Kiaaina, sources said, noting the counts could be one or two votes off, since there were voice votes.

It was important for the Governor to appoint someone before all the new members are sworn in so that Hawaii could have a senior Senator (Schatz will be 13 ahead, instead of the least senior member of the Senate.) Sens. Akaka and Inouye were some of the most senior members of the Senate, and the appointment means that the 49th state will have someone better poised to get desired committees. Additionally, the newly-designated Senator Schatz will be able to vote on the fiscal cliff talks.

The appointment of Schatz over Hanabusa also means that Hawaii Dems and the DCCC do not have to worry about who would hold onto the First Congressional District. Had a special election been held, it would have been winner take all. And former Rep. Charles Djou and former Gov. Linda Lingle would have been formidable, well-funded candidates on the Republican side. (Lingle raised $5.5M for her recent Senate run.) Admittedly, the state had a special election quite recently when Rep. Abercrombie left Congress to run for Governor, which resulted in Republican Charles Djou holding the 1st CD seat for a brief jaunt, beating both Democrats – Colleen Hanabusa & former Rep. Ed Case. That is, until Nov 2010 when HI State Sen. President Colleen Hanabusa beat him in the general, after defeating Case in the Democratic primary leading up to the Nov 2010 general.

At one point, it could have been possible and a historic first methinks, for Hawaii to have an all APA female Congressional delegation (if Hanabusa had been appointed to the Senate, and if an APA woman had won her Congressional seat.)

–Caroline

Filed Under: 2011+2012 Campaigns, Caroline, Hawai'i

Senate Republicans slash Sandy relief, call it “slush”

December 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

NYU auditorium

Republicans in the U. S. Senate have countered the White House’s $60 billion Hurricane Sandy relief proposal with a plan that would only give $23.8 billion, far short of the $82 billion that the tri-state region of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut requested.

Republicans say the package is only meant to cover immediate needs through March, and they’ll consider providing more funding for projects the consider less pressing — such as preventing subway flooding and protecting shorelines during future storms — in the coming months. “We don’t have time right now to get all the way through and analyze the actual losses that were attributable to Sandy,” said Republican senator James Inhofe, adding that the White House proposal looks like a “slush fund.” (h/t NY Mag)

Lawmakers from affected states worry that their states’ needs will be forgotten in the press of legislation, and it’s hard to start on large scale rebuilding projects without adequate funding. Recently FEMA granted NYU Langone $114 million for reconstruction efforts, out of the estimated $1 billion that it will cost. The photo above is the waterlogged NYU basement auditorium where I’ve sat a few times in my life for special occasions like graduation ceremonies. The NYU hospitals are still closed, except for outpatient activities. And hopefully a good portion of the cleanup funds go to Bellevue, the city’s only public hospital, because they do God’s work.

Also, it’s important to fund mitigation efforts to prevent subway flooding and protect shorelines. The Hoboken NJ PATH stop just reopened yesterday.

Seriously, I mean the Democratic Governor of NYS and the Republican Governor of NJ are working together to get the job done without competing for funds. Why can’t Congress do the same?

–Caroline

Filed Under: Caroline, Congress, Democratic Party, New York, Republican Party

Mitt opposes bailout, makes $15M off it anyway

November 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Mitt Romney: Let Detroit Go Bankrupt

Here is the galling part about Mitt Romney – he is willing to do or say anything. Typical of most elected officials, right? But Romney is a special, special case.

Recently he put a radio ad on the air in Ohio, lying that Jeep was planning on pulling 15,000 jobs out of Ohio and moving them to China. Problem was, Jeep wasn’t doing that at all. What happened was that Jeep said the demand for their cars in China was so great that they had to open up a new plant in China. This is a good thing, with the trade imbalance and all. As a capitalist, Romney ought to agree that Jeep increasing production in China is beneficial. For Romney’s blatant lying, the Washington Post’s Fact Checker gave him four Pinocchios – a flat out lie.

Not that he ever supported the car companies anyways. In Nov 2008, Romney infamously penned a NYTimes op-ed called “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” – a bold move for the son of the former beloved Gov. of Michigan.

Romney opposed the $80 billion dollar bailout of the car companies, while Obama and his administration supported it. The NYTimes estimated that this support saved 1.5 million jobs in Michigan, Ohio, and other parts of the country. I guess Romney is only for bailing out the banks?

Despite Romney being against the auto bailout, he managed to make $15 million off of it anyway.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a formal complaint with the US Office of Government Ethics in Washington stating that Gov. Romney improperly hid a profit of $15.3 million to $115.0 million in Ann Romney’s so-called “blind” trust.

“While Romney was opposing the rescue of one of the nation’s most important manufacturing sectors, he was building his fortunes with his Delphi investor group, making his fortunes off the misfortunes of others,” King added.

The Romneys’ gigantic windfall was hidden inside an offshore corporation inside a limited partnership inside a trust which both concealed the gain and reduces taxes on it.

. . . President Obama’s approved trust, for example, contains only highly-diversified mutual funds on which presidential action can have little effect. By contrast, the auto bail-out provided a windfall of over 4,000% on one single Romney investment.

In 2009, Ann Romney partnered with her husband’s key donor, billionaire Paul Singer, who secretly bought a controlling interest in Delphi Auto, the former GM auto parts division. Singer’s hedge fund, Elliott Management, threatened to cut off GM’s supply of steering columns unless GM and the government’s TARP auto bailout fund provided Delphi with huge payments. While the US treasury complained this was “extortion,” the hedge funds received, ultimately, $12.9 billion in taxpayer subsidies.

As a result, the shares Singer and Romney bought for just 67 cents are today worth over $30, a 4,000% gain. Singer’s hedge fund made a profit of $1.27 billion and the Romney’s tens of millions.

The point is – Romney is not to be trusted. Who’s to say that he wouldn’t privatize Social Security and Medicare, and then turn around and make millions off of that? Or that he wouldn’t continue to hold up the common-sense Transportation Reauthorization bill which would create much needed construction jobs — only to turn around and profit by hedging against safer roads and bridges?

This is a man who said that funding disaster relief was “immoral” (GOP debate, St. Anselm’s College June 2011). Does that make you feel more secure? It doesn’t make me feel safer.

As a New Yorker, watching my city (including the bright lights of NYU hospital) plunged into darkness scared the living daylights out of me. Watching first responders hand-evacuate patients down 10+ flights of stairs was never something I expected to happen. My city is under martial law, and there are still gas shortages.

Do something for the good of our country today. Vote Barack Obama and the Democratic ticket.

–Caroline

Filed Under: 2011+2012 Campaigns, Caroline, Economy

Who’s That? Brooown Romney

September 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Brown Romney

Thoughts on the all brown everything, better than you ever seen Mitt Romney that showed up to the Univision forum? You believe that it was just too much makeup, or was Mitt all tan everything?

I’ve got to say, I’ve seen politicians go lighter. Never seen darker before. . . so what can brown Romney do for you? (Other than releasing his tax returns with 40+ days to go before the election.)

P.S. For Christmas I would like a Das Racist Mitt Romney mashup. We can call it Das Rmoney.

– Caroline

Filed Under: 2011+2012 Campaigns, Caroline

The “I built that” mentality ignores reality

September 19, 2012 By 1 Comment

How do folks reconcile the “I built that” mentality with the rock hard wall of reality? Americans for Prosperity held a cheap gas stunt today in Reno, Nevada. Of course, folks who went didn’t care who was offering the gas, just that they could save some fuel money.

More importantly, the gas station owner displayed a dismaying disconnect between reality and his impetus for being mad at the president:

From the Las Vegas Sun:

Mark Miller, whose family owns the gas station where Americans for Prosperity held its event, said he doesn’t blame Obama for the high gas prices, either. But he does disagree with his policies and he was viscerally angry at Obama’s implication that business owners rely on government infrastructure and programs to be successful.

“If these roads weren’t here, would this gas station have just organically appeared?” Miller said. “Would the $1.8 million in start-up costs just have appeared? I didn’t see the government here when I was covering the 2 a.m. shift.”

While the above was bolded for emphasis, I think that line is striking. Striking in its willful denial that if the government hadn’t built roads, his gas station would be a lot less well trafficked if it was off in a remote desert. Perhaps he didn’t see the cops patrolling his neighborhood at 2am, helping to keep his gas station safe.

I can understand the pride and hard work that goes into building a business, but let’s give credit where it’s due. Many factors go into success, and the government and the public infrastructure help to build traffic to businesses’ front doors. Particularly gas stations.

–Caroline

Filed Under: Caroline

Todd Akin Gaffes Again

September 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Akin women wbpg screenshot

Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri, infamous for his “legitimate rape” reasoning, has made another gender gaffe on his U.S. Senate campaign. His recent stretch of the gender gap (see what I did there?) was posting a photo of a Democratic operative prominently on his women’s outreach website (www.akin.org/women). Above the photo, the headline screamed, “I’m a women[SIC], and I support Todd.”
(h/t St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Of course this webpage was designed to reach out to women after his massive blunder. Of course, some postulate that his belief that women’s bodies “know” how to “shut the whole thing down” in case of “legitimate rape” wasn’t a misstatement or blunder, but really what Akin believes women are capable of biologically.

This of course, led Akin’s wife Lulli to compare the GOP’s attempts to force Akin to stop campaigning to “rape.”

She went on to say, “Party bosses dictating who is allowed to advance through the party and make all the decisions – it’s just like 1776 in that way.”

That was when colonists “rose up and said, ‘Not in my home, you don’t come and rape my daughters and my … wife. But that is where we are again.” (WaPo)

Given a choice between a gaffe-filled campaign riddled with foot-in-mouth syndrome and Senator Claire McCaskill’s known leadership and smarts, what will the voters of Missouri do?

–Caroline

Filed Under: 2011+2012 Campaigns, Caroline, Congress, Culture, Democratic Party, Demographics, Republican Party, Social Justice
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