Change, not chump change. Scott
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News of August 8th, 2012
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What's Up?
Check out what's happening with our working groups:
Action: Medicare's enactment on July 30th 47 years ago was a huge
economic reward to our country's retiring workforce. With their
reduced incomes and increased susceptibility to physical ailments,
retired workers were constantly in danger of getting sick, falling
into frightful living conditions from high medical bills and becoming
economic burdens on their children.
Medicare instantly offered health and economic security to millions of
people 65 and over and their families. At the same time, by virtue of
its large size and unified character, it has given us ways to study
and improve the delivery of care.
Today, Medicare benefits and covered population need expansion rather
then contraction as some of its vocal opponents are proposing. It's an
efficient program that maximizes payments for care; its overhead costs
are in the 2 percent range. In contrast, private health insurance
companies easily spend 15 to 30 percent of our premium dollars on
overhead. That's money spent on maintaining an army of gatekeepers to
minimize payouts for care and to maximize insurer profits.
Education: The Curriculum Project has started! The goal is to create a
one month unit of curriculum for high school government teachers to
use to give students the tools to be able to understand and evaluate
concepts such as corporate personhood and how that affects our
democracy. A one hour presentation will also be created to present to
high school and college classes when teachers invite Move to Amend to
speak to their class.
The second Book Study group is meeting every second and fourth
Thursday evenings. The book selected is "Power, Inc.: The Epic Rivalry
Between Big Business and Government--and the Reckoning That Lies
Ahead" by David Rothkopf. The next meeting is Aug. 23, 2012 from 7:00
pm to 9:00 pm.
The initial IRATE document was handed out at the Move to Amend
Convergence in Oakland in July and was well received. A final draft
has been released and is available on our website at www.scc-mta.org
Outreach: Applause and a wild THANK YOU to all the volunteers who
spent many hours this past month tabling in an effort to pass
resolutions in not one, but TWO upcoming City Council Meetings in both
Campbell and Milpitas. Outreach was made to as many residents as
possible collecting signatures, supporters, and new recruits in
various locations throughout those cities. Happily, a letter to the
editor appeared in the Campbell Patch in support of our efforts. Again
kudos to those who are willing to reach out to the public and support
move to amend one person at a time.
The Canvass Project was presented at the Move to Amend Nor-Cal!
Regional Convergence on July 28, 2012 at a session led by our project
lead, Pat. He reviewed his canvass questions and methodology to the
group. Another way in which the Santa Clara County Move to Amend group
demonstrates our strong leadership!
Communication: Our website continues to be updated with documents
produced from our Core Documents project. Take a look at the revised
Resource List and the new IRATE Document now available for your
review. You can leave your feedback at the bottom of the document in
the Comments section. Your feedback is welcome and appreciated. Our
website can be found at
http://scc-mta.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1119&qid=5972.
Polling has become a topic of interest. Some discussion as to the
usefulness of a poll has ensued. Research into the costs and
feasibility are underway. Keep an eye out for more to come on this
topic.
Resolutions: Much focus on the cities of Campbell and Milpitas was
made this past month. By the time this reaches the press, we will have
the results from the two city council meetings held in Campbell and
Milpitas BOTH on Tuesday, August 7, 2012 to vote on a resolution to
support an amendment that corporations are not people and money is not
speech.
Process: The process group has been busy this past month. Several
projects are underway.
One very important activity is developing a budget for our affiliate
to determine the goals for a fundraising campaign. Each work group
will provide a list of needs for the upcoming year and from that costs
will be determined. The very good news is that we now have a treasurer
identified to manage our funds.
A Cultural Proficiency Plan is underway. As Santa Clara County is one
of the most diverse communities in the world, it is important that we
understand how to reach out to all ethnicities. This effort will give
us guidelines and actions for reaching out to all Santa Clara County
citizens.
Our mission statement is also a popular topic. It will be reviewed at
the August general meeting and hopes are that it will be approved.
>From that common mission, goals and a strategy will be developed to
refine our activities this upcoming year.
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Wanna Date?
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Aug 23: Book Study Group, Los Altos residence, 7:00pm-9:00pm Contact
[email protected] for details.
Sep 10: SCC-MTA General Meeting, Casa Vicky in the house next to the
restaurant, Julian & 17th Street. 6 pm (food), 7 pm (meeting).
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Hear Ye Hear Ye
The Move to Amend Nor-Cal! Regional Convergence event was held in Oakland
July 27 through July 29. This event brought together Move to Amend
activists and supporters from throughout Northern California. It was a
great conference filled with information and discussion.
Our Santa Clara County Move to Amend affiliate was applauded for our great
turnout and contributions made to the event. We are an extremely strong
affiliate with great momentum. Thanks to all for your contributions!
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I AM IRATE!
Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly, Attorney General of Massachusetts, 533
U.S. 525 (2001)
In Lorillard, the Supreme Court held that the Massachusetts regulations
that prohibited smokeless tobacco or cigar advertising within 1,000 feet
of a school or playground violated the tobacco corporation's first
amendment free speech (commercial speech) rights.
Effect: Massachusetts state law regulating cigarette advertising was
invalidated which gives corporations the right to target advertising
tobacco products to children. The effect is that the tobacco industry can
advertise in such as way as to target children in order to create more
tobacco consumers.
Contact us:
Action: e00">[email protected]
Education: [email protected]
Outreach: [email protected]
Communication: [email protected]
Resolutions: [email protected]
Process: [email protected]
The Santa Clara County Move to Amend Web Site:
http://scc-mta.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=1120&qid=5972
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