Democracy for New Mexico

Tom Udall Spells Out Benefits to New Mexicans of Health Reform on Senate Floor

Here's video of Sen. Tom Udall's speech on the Senate floor this morning about the health insurance reform bill in the debate leading up to a cloture vote to permit the bill to move forward. You can read his remarks here (pdf).

Senator Udall noted that the vast majority of New Mexicans would gain access to quality, affordable health care through the reform legislation, which was unveiled earlier this week after months of consideration by two Senate committees. Small businesses and rural areas also stand to benefit from reform, he said.

“When it comes to health care today, too many New Mexicans are living on a cliff, teetering on the edge of financial ruin. All it would take is an illness or a job loss and they could fall into an abyss of medical invoices, bill collectors and bankruptcy. For these New Mexicans, the status quo isn’t an option,” Udall said. “This bill offers a life rope to these New Mexicans to pull them back from the precipice. Passing it would provide stability and security to those who have insurance, affordable coverage to those who don’t, and lower costs for families, businesses, and government.”

Dems Have 60 Votes in Senate for Cloture on Health Insurance Reform Bill

If we go by today's floor speeches by Dem Senators -- we now have the 60 votes needed to fend off a GOP filibuster and win the cloture vote on H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. A total of 58 Dem Senators will join with two independents -- Sen. Joe Lieberman (I, Me, My Party-CT) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) -- to get to the magic 60. While Lieberman agreed to vote for cloture today, he's still threatening to vote against cloture on the bill itself, once a weeks' long debate is finished.

The last three holdouts on the Dem side -- Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) -- have now all said they'll vote to allow debate on the bill itself to begin, although they also said they would likely vote against the legislation itself if the opt-in public option stays in the bill. When the bill is voted on by the entire Senate, we'll need only 51 votes to win, but it will take another cloture vote on the legislation -- with that same 60-vote requirement -- before that can happen.

The official cloture vote is expected to take place around 6:00 PM MST tonight. Debate on the bill -- meaning individual floor speeches -- is expected to begin on November 30, when the Senate returns from the Thanksgiving recess. Hot air alert: it's expected to last up to a month, with Senators parading to the microphones one by one before a mostly empty Senate chamber.

The three holdouts were given perks to "encourage" them to vote for cloture. Sen. Nelson had a provision to remove an anti-trust exemption for the insurance companies stricken from the bill. Sen. Landrieu got a provision for adding an estimated $100-$300 million to Medicaid funding for states that suffered severely from natural disasters -- with only her state qualifying according to the rules. Sen. Lincoln got $50 million in funding for abstinence-only programs added to the bill.

LG Candidate Brian Colón Launches Campaign Website (And It's a Hub of Activity)

Featured on the front page: the Colón family

Brian Colón, who's running to be the Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor in New Mexico, today launched his new campaign website at http://www.electcolon.com/. He previously had just a bare-bones page at that URL, primarily for fundraising. Now that the campaign season is heating up he's got a fresh new site with lots of multimedia, a blog and all the latest bells and whistles. There's an emphasis on social media too, with easy links to Brian's accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr, as well as a running feed of his latest Tweets.

Campaign website exclusive: kid Colon

Both Colón's campaign and his new website clearly are geared to easy and personal interactive communication, energetic outreach to folks all over the state and on-the-ground grassroots organizing. Colón has been sending out down home and personal weekly updates on his activities to supporters for a couple months now, and this website can be seen as an extension and expansion of that.

Colón's campaign is operating out in the open, with lots of public contact and input, and an emphasis on day-to-day, face-to-face campaigning. Even during this early stage of the campaign, Colón's travel schedule has been extensive and grueling. He's out there meeting people at every turn, on a personal, "retail politics" level not often seen these days. His campaign website is set up to report on all this interaction, as well as encourage engagement with the campaign online and offline -- to make supporters part of the action, part of Team Colón.

Right now on his website, you can download a nominating petition and gather signatures, take a survey on the issues that are important to you, enter a statement to be used on the website to voice your support and encourage others to join the cause, register to host a house party, volunteer for his campaign, endorse Brian's candidacy, invite Colón to an event, donate to the campaign or sign up to get on his mailing list.

In the issues section, it's telling that Colón lists Constituent Services at the top of the list, right before Ethics:

I’ve spent my entire life bringing people together to solve problems. As your next Lt. Governor, I will work to be a hub of information and assistance to everyone who interacts with state government. I know that New Mexicans are some of the hardest working people in the country and I want to spend every day promoting our workers, our industry, and our wonderful way of life. Constituent service will be an important focus of the Lt. Governor’s Office under my administration, ensuring a better New Mexico for all of our families.

Colón clearly sees the importance of the Lt. Governor serving as what he has termed a "conduit" between ordinary New Mexicans and government and vice versa, just as he did when he was a conduit between grassroots Democrats and the Democratic Party infrastructure when he chaired the DPNM. He defines his focus as pragmatic -- bringing people together to find solutions to problems. His campaign website is structured in a similar way, as a hub of activity with tools that make it easy for information and messages to flow in both directions -- out from the campaign and in from the public.

Like Brian's campaign, his website is designed to be active and interactive with lots to draw people back to visit on a regular basis. It's a nice contrast to the kind of static candidate websites that used to be the norm and, unfortunately, sometimes still are. Well done.

(Updated) Ray Powell Criticizes Land Commissioner Pat Lyons on White Peak Land Swap

Ray Powell talks about the land swap practices of the current Land Commissioner at his campaign kickoff last weekend

Updates: Governor Bill Richardson issued a statement criticizing the land deal. Also, Alexa at SFReeper has more on the press conference and proposed land swap.
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New Mexico Land Commissioner Pat Lyons appeared at today's Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) meeting and reported on what's known as the White Peak land swap. The land office is preparing to trade a parcel of land made up of prime, public hunting habitat with an abundance of elk, deer, turkey and bear, as well as expansive water resources, for privately owned land that is mostly scrubland along a desolate highway. There has been no public input on the deal, and no serious analysis of the long-term impact of the trade has been performed.

In response, several statewide sportsmen groups held a press conference today raising serious concerns about large land trades in the White Peak area (near the Mora / Colfax County line in northern New Mexico). The State Land Office has put one parcel of the land out to bid with a closing deadline set for Tuesday at 5:00 PM. If no-one else bids on the land, the Stanley Ranch will get it without paying any cash to the State Land Office. Instead, the ranch owners will swap 3,300 acres of land they own nearby.

Ray Powell, former New Mexico Land Commissioner and current Democratic candidate for the job, weighed in on the controversy in a statement released this afternoon.

“The White Peak land exchange has not been an open process and people have not been invited to participate in what is best for the trust and New Mexico. I’m glad to see sportsmen's groups highlighting this issue and working to make people aware of this type of transaction at the land office,” said Ray Powell.

“As I travel around the state I have been working hard to alert people to the need to be engaged and aware of land transfers being proposed by the current administration at the land office," Powell continued. "As a former Land Commissioner, I can tell you, the White Peak land exchange is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. What we know is this: this is not a “like for like” exchange. We need to know what is being traded for what. Is the trust trading away good wildlife habitat and public hunting grounds for questionable pasture lands?”

“This trade seems to be similar to what we saw in Las Cruces,” said Powell, referring to a controversial land transfer in Las Cruces in 2006 where Land Commissioner Lyons transferred thousands of acres to a developer after shutting down the open bid process. It turned out that this developer contributed thousands of dollars to Lyons’ re-election campaign, leading to accusations of 'pay-to-play.' "And, like what we saw in Las Cruces, this was done without involving the community,” said Powell.

According to Powell, “Sunshine, transparency, and public involvement is the best antidote to these seriously flawed proposals.”

Powell is running for Land Commissioner on a platform of reform in the State Land Office, creating economic development and conserving and protecting New Mexico's valuable public lands. As Commissioner, Powell pledges to protect and carefully manage state trust lands." After eight years of controversies and distractions", Powell says, "it’s time to restore trust in the State Land Office."

A New Mexico native, Powell is from Albuquerque and lives in the North Valley with his wife, Jean. Powell served as Land Commissioner from 1993-2002, and was recognized for running one of the best land management agencies in the country. Ray is a veterinarian and currently works as a regional director for the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research Education and Conservation in Santa Fe.

Ray is facing Santa Fe County Commissioners Harry Montoya and Mike Anaya and Public Regulatory Commission Chairman Sandy Jones. The Democratic Primary election is June 1, 2010.

(Updated) Procedural Path for Passage of Senate Health Care Reform Bill Starts Today

Update: The White House just released its Statement of Administrative Policy (pdf) on H.R. 3590 — Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
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Getting a bill passed in the U.S. Senate is tricky. Unlike the simple rules that govern the U.S. House, the rules in the Senate provide ample opportunity for the use of procedural roadblocks, and grant much more power to the minority party to slow things down or stop them altogether. The Senate's rules are complicated -- some say byzantine. Mastering them takes years and a tolerance for nitpicking detail. The better the Senate Majority Leader knows the rules and how to use them to his or her advantage, the more likely the majority party will get its legislation through all the hoops by managing to outflank the minority obstructionists. And the Senate these days has more obstructionists than ever. I wouldn't want to be Harry Reid right now.

In the case of health care reform legislation, the entire GOP Senate caucus is dedicated to stopping the bill in its tracks -- the Party of No is dead set against allowing Obama and the Dems a victory on this no matter how many Americans get hurt, or even die. According an article in the LA Times, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) has characterized the coming floor fight as a "holy war." Who knew Orrin Hatch and GOP caucus members were jihadists?

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has been making a lot of noise about requiring the entire 2000+ page bill to be read aloud on the Senate floor. According to Congress Matters, he's backed off that threat due to a tradeoff that will permit debate on the bill all day today and tomorrow -- so Repubs can cram in as much criticism as possible, fact-based or not. In the bargain, the Dems got consent to combine a cloture vote on whether to allow a vote on the motion to proceed with a cloture vote on the motion itself to bring the bill to the floor by means of one single vote on the whole shebang. A little complicated, I know.

Suffice it to say that instead of taking two cloture votes, the Senate will now be required to take only one to get the bill to the Senate Floor. The motion must pass by a 3/5 majority, or 60 votes, given the way the Senate currently operates.

Normally, there's a 30-hour waiting period after the first cloture vote, which would have negated an up or down vote on bringing the bill to the floor on Saturday. With the negotiated deal, a vote on the combined motion to proceed is scheduled to take place Saturday night at 6:00 PM MST -- and then can proceed directly to the Senate Floor. All this should elate C-SPAN watchers everywhere. Expect some fireworks, and the tension will no doubt be thick enough to cut with a knife. Will Reid have the 60 votes needed to win the procedural battle? Even he's not making a firm prediction.

According to Open Congress, another point to understand is that:

The debate that begins today is, technically, on defeating a Republican filibuster of proceeding to debate of an unrelated House bill, H.R. 3590. The Democrats are bringing up the House bill instead of their own Senate bill because the Constitution requires all legislation affecting taxes or revenues to originate in the House. Since the Senate Democrats’ health care bill includes a number of tax increases and revenue provisions, they’re using the unrelated House bill as a “shell.” Its text will be completely replaced by the health care bill text, which exists in the form of a “substitute amendment,” if adopted.

For more info on the legislation itself, check out the New York Times' handy comparison of the House and Senate reform bills that examines 16 elements of the legislation.

Food for Thought from Stephen Jones: A Professional Legislature

This is a post by contributing writer, Stephen Jones, who is a progressive political activist and a resident of Las Cruces, New Mexico.

I admit when I first arrived in New Mexico the romantic notion of a “Citizen Legislature” seemed quite attractive to me, particularly having spent so much time over the years facing off against well-oiled and high rolling lobbyists in the other kind of legislatures over much needed reform legislation that was good for the communities I was advocating change for, but not necessarily for the special interests the lobbyists were paid by.

Then reality set in. While tuning in and out of the recent session of the New Mexico legislature it occurred to me that a “citizen legislature” is not quite up to its billing. Actually, at points along the way, it seemed a bit like a Broadway musical production put on by the local high school. The experience has convinced me that I ought to rethink the whole “citizen legislature” thing. I expect that at some point New Mexico will need to pull itself out of its 19th Century Territorial past and pay the legislators who gather in Santa Fe like other states do.

Before denouncing me for heresy, let us just begin by considering that, if we don’t adopt a professional legisature, the squishy ethics of that body alone will keep New Mexico’s State Auditors fairly busy for decades to come.

Here’s another thing to consider. New Mexico is the fifth largest state in the nation. Other states with citizen legislatures can fit into one of New Mexico’s counties. Even on horseback, state representatives from Vermont are less than a day’s travel to Montpelier, where the State Capitol is located. By automobile, the entire legislative assembly can make the trip in less than two hours. Most of them just drive back home after the Speaker pounds the gavel for the evening.

In New Mexico legislators must travel long distances to the capital, then house and feed themselves in Santa Fe, one of the nations’ less than economical locations, while the Legislature is in session. Lobbyists, and various and sundry “associations” are more than happy to help out with the food and housing problem. Even when the ethically questionable closeness to these groups and individuals isn't an issue, the coziness that members of the Executive Branch offer our intrepid travelers from the hinterlands ought to raise an eyebrow or two. This situation alone can’t help but lead to legislation by way of a wink and a nod. Couple this with the fact that the citizen legislators themselves have business and professional interests that all too often coincide with pending bills in the capital.

At a time when a State Budget is reeling, it may seem odd to raise the idea of paying our legislators and allotting them funds for a basic staff. I have to admit, this is an issue; however on the other side of this equation is the fact that the folks back home actually do get something for their dollars. For one thing they get a full service representative with actual office hours and a staff to answer phone calls when somebody needs them. They also get a paid advocate for the community back in Santa Fe.

Beyond local advocacy a full time professional legislature would be a counterweight to the Governor’s office and to the other constitutional state office holders. This would, by its nature, create both the oversight and the creative and competitive tension to develop better laws and ensure the level of deliberation needed to assess and pass those laws, rather than having such a heavy reliance on the Executive Branch for drafting and proposing bills into the legislature.

Finally, a full time, professional legislature would be, by its nature, both in competition with the executive offices and a source for office holders to run for those offices that would already be familiar with the workings of the State structure and processes.

For all of these reasons, ethics chief among them, I believe it is time for New Mexico to enter the 21st Century, abandon its cherished “citizen legislature” and follow the overwhelming majority of states in implementing a full time, professional legislature.

Contributing writer Stephen Jones has a background in history, libraries and records management. He has been involved in many civil and human rights campaigns. He has previously lived and worked in Wisconsin and Illinois and served for three terms, in the late 1980's, as State Chair of the Independent Voters of Illinois, a leading progressive non-partisan political and legislative action community organization in that state. He has been a community organizer and he has been involved in numerous issue and political campaigns.

To read more posts by Stephen Jones, visit our archive.

U.S. House NM Delegation Honors Gov. Bruce King

Yesterday, Representatives Martin Heinrich, Ben Ray Luján and Harry Teague remembered New Mexico Governor Bruce King in speeches on the House floor. Governor King, a former three term governor, passed away on November 13, 2009 at the age of 85.

To read Rep Heinrich’s remarks, click here. To read Rep Luján’s remarks, click here. To read Rep Teague’s remarks, click here.

Rep. Ben Ray Luján to Hold Open Office Hours in Clovis, Tucumcari

Rep. Ben Ray Luján (NM-03) will hold open office hours in Tucumcari and Clovis to meet with constituents, discuss important issues before Congress and listen to their concerns. During open office hours, Rep. Luján will meet with constituents for five minutes each on a first come, first served basis.

Clovis Open Office Hours
Monday, November 23, 2009, 2:00 - 3:30 PM
Rep. Luján’s Clovis Office
Clovis-Carver Public Library, 701 N Main Street

Tucumcari Open Office Hours
Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 11:00 - 12:00 PM
Rep. Luján’s Tucumcari District Office
404 W. Route 66 Blvd.

Jeff Bingaman Pays Tribute to Bruce King in Senate Floor Speech

Senator Jeff Bingaman remembered the life of the late Bruce King in a speech on the Senate floor yesterday. You can watch the video above or read the text version below:

"This week New Mexicans of all political persuasions have been recalling the life of a legendary figure in our state, Bruce King, who served as governor during three different decades and who taught by example that public service is an honorable calling. Governor King died last Friday at the age of 85.

"Bruce used to tell the story about a former governor who was the speaker at his high school graduation who looked at the very small class of teenagers and said, “One of you could grow up to be governor of this state.” Bruce looked around at his other classmates and figured that the governor had to be speaking to him. Sure enough, in the course of time, and after service in the Santa Fe County Commission, state legislature, and speaker of the House in New Mexico, he was elected governor.

"He served as governor of our sate for 12 years, longer than anyone else in the history of New Mexico. In all of those years he never failed to make the people of New Mexico his first priority. With him at every step of the way from their family ranch in Stanley to Santa Fe and back again was the remarkable Alice Martin King, his wife. She was a great force in her own right. She was a champion for children in our state; she died last December.

"My own history with Bruce King began when I was just out of law school. I was serving then as an assistant attorney general in New Mexico and I was assigned the job of counsel to the Constitutional Convention, which our state had in 1969. Bruce, who was then the speaker of the New Mexico House of Representatives, was elected president of that convention. I learned a great deal about the legislative process, about New Mexico history, and about our state in general as a result of the effort to work with Bruce in that important capacity. His management of the process and the people involved with the convention was masterful. He was always inclusive. He was always listening. And he was always working to get the best result. In short, he was the model of a legislative manager.

"I also recall being privileged to serve as attorney general during Bruce’s second term as governor from 1979-1982. We worked closely together on a number of issues and I was impressed all over again at his knowledge of New Mexico and his genuine love for its citizens.

"He was gregarious and kind. He never knew a stranger. He shook every hand in our state, whether there was a voter attached to it or not. People were delighted to see Bruce coming and to hear his famous reply when asked “How are you doing, governor?” He would rely, “Mighty fine” regardless of the circumstances that the state and he were facing.

"Our friendship extended for 40-plus years. And along with my fellow New Mexicans, I will miss him greatly. His sons Bill and Gary, his brothers Don and Sam, and the entire King family have lost tremendously. Every New Mexican feels this loss and joins his family in honoring his life."

Court Grants New Mexico Nonprofits Full Attorney’s Fees

State District Court Judge Judith Herrera ruled yesterday that the State of New Mexico must pay $72,000 in attorney fees and costs to the Center for Civic Policy and the Southwest Organizing Project, according to a statement released today by the two organizations.

The Court ordered the state to pay the two nonprofit organizations’ court fees after Judge Herrera ruled last August in favor of the nonprofit organizations in their lawsuit against New Mexico Secretary of State Mary Herrera.

Satisfying -- except that the taxpayers will have to pay for the fight against the bogus ruling against nonprofits that appeared to be part of an all-out attack in response to several status quo Dems being ousted in primary elections in 2008 by reformers. And except that the nonprofits had to waste time and energy to ensure their constitutional rights.

In 2008, the two organizations were forced to seek protection in federal court against Secretary of State Herrera’s decision to require New Mexico Youth Organized and Southwest Organizing Project to register as “political committees.”

In August, Judge Herrera issued a decision granting summary judgment in favor of the nonprofits, ruling that the speech of NMYO and SWOP is protected by the First Amendment -- and the Secretary of State is without power to regulate it.

Despite the decisive victory in District Court and despite the clearly settled law in this area, New Mexico Attorney General Gary King has decided to appeal the ruling to the 10th Circuit Court. If that appeal is unsuccessful, it could cost taxpayers even more in attorney's fees and costs.

Today the two groups hailed Judge Herrera’s decision both as a vindication of their work to improve the quality of life for all New Mexicans and as a strong statement against attempts to intimidate them. The huge legal fees the groups had to spend to defend themselves would have buried many small nonprofits in New Mexico, they noted.

“This is further evidence that nonprofit organizations are well within their right to hold public officials accountable,” said Center for Civic Policy chief operating officer Matt Brix. New Mexico Youth Organized is a project of the Center for Civic Policy.

But the groups also lamented the fact that taxpayer money will now be spent because of the Secretary of State's baseless order.

“It is upsetting that state money is being spent on frivolous pursuits like this when a deficit is prompting discussion of cutting education and health care for children,” said SWOP communications director George Lujan.

The nonprofits also prevailed against a lawsuit filed earlier by Shannon Robinson, Dan Silva and James Taylor -- the three legislators who lost primary races against Dem challengers.

Campaign Petition Party Tonight: Vino, Vampires and State Auditor Hector Balderas

From Campaign to Re-elect Hector Balderas as State Auditor: Come to Cafe Green, have some wine, watch some vampires and sign some petitions for Hector:

Cafe Green, SM Cubed Consulting,
Veronica Martinez, Helen Anderson,
Meridith Griego and Denise Balderas
present
Vino, Vampires and
State Auditor Hector Balderas
for an evening of
Twilight
Thursday, November 19th, 8:00 - 10:30 PM
Cafe Green
319 5th St NW, Albuquerque (map)
refreshments served, cash bar
Silent Auction featuring chocolate from The Candy Lady and
tickets to the sneak preview of New Moon
Themed dress is encouraged
Click for FLYER
Please RSVP to Veronica Martinez at ronilynn75@hotmail.com

Martin Heinrich Stuffs USO Care Packages for Women Serving in the Military

Rep. Heinrich with Second Lady Jill Biden at the first
“USO Care Package for Women” party,
at Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill.

Yesterday, Rep. Martin Heinrich joined Second Lady Jill Biden and the United Service Organizations (USO) for a care package stuffing event to honor and recognize women in the military. Operation USO Care Package was initiated by the USO in 2001 to provide our troops deployed overseas with much needed items such as wet wipes, playing cards, sun screen and calling cards so they can stay in touch with the loved ones they left behind. This year, for the first time, special care packages for women in the military were created.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi led off the event with remarks about the project, and praised Jill Biden for her work on behalf of tour roops and their families:

"As you know, Dr. Biden is a mother and an educator, a Blue Star Mom. She has worked tirelessly to help the loved ones of those who are serving in the military as well as those who serve. Through her work with 'Delaware Boots on the Ground,' she visits bases here and in Germany, and it is hard to think of a more passionate advocate for our men and women in uniform and doing something about recognizing that than Dr. Biden.

"I want to join you in acknowledging the important work that USO has done for our troops, for our men and women in uniform, and for when they come home. This event reflects the mission of the USO to bring our troops a little closer to home wherever they are, to boost the morale of our service members and to strengthen the bonds between our armed forces and the American people.

Since the program’s inception, the USO has distributed more than 1.8 million care packages to our troops. To send a gift to our service members or learn more about USO programs, click here.

See more photos from the event.

Here Comes the Senate's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tonight unveiled the Senate version of health care reform legislation as an amendment to H.R. 3590, and named it the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" (pdf). According to the CBO score (pdf), the bill would spend $849 billion over 10 years to insure 31 million Americans who currently lack coverage, and would reduce the federal budget deficit by $127 billion over a decade. Click to read a two-page summary (pdf) of the bill prepared by Senate Democrats.

According to The Hill:

Democrats invoked the memory of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who called healthcare reform the cause of his life. “I intend to ensure that we do everything we can to fulfill Ted Kennedy’s dream,” said Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).

On Saturday, the Senate will convene for an unusual weekend session to focus on a procedural vote on closure so that the procedural debate can end and a motion to take up debate on the bill on the Senate Floor can be offered. There are no guarantees that Reid has the 60 votes necessary to move the bill forward.

Late holdouts on the Dem side include Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), who are being wooed, cajoled and pressured by a team of advocates led by Vice President Biden, Interior Secretary and former Senator Ken Salazar and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Sen. Joe Lieberman (ME Party-CT) has, of course, pledged to oppose the bill because it contains an opt-out public option.

Every single Republican Senator is against the bill, including Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), who has indicated she'll vote against cloture. I guess all that ass kissing on the part of the Senate Finance Committee and others didn't help much after all.

The New York Times provides a rundown of provisions in the bill. A particular favorite of mine is Reid's addition of a 5% tax on elective cosmetic surgery to help fund the bill. Some differences with the House bill:

increases Medicare payroll tax on high-income people and imposes a new excise tax on high-cost “Cadillac health plans” offered by employers to their employees
imposes less stringent penalties for not obtaining health insurance
continues adherence to the Hyde amendment instead of the Stupak amendment regarding women's choice
many provisions wouldn't kick in until 2014, a year later than the House bill
states can opt out of public option by enacting legislation

John Nichols at The Nation explains the Senate's provisions related to women's choice:

The Senate plan does not contain the draconian "Stupak" language, which was written into the House bill with the intent of establishing radical new limits on access to reproductive health services.

... It preserves existing limits on public-funding of abortions. But, as part of the exchange set up by the bill, families and individuals who participate in the new program could purchase insurance plans that provide abortion coverage.

Open Congress has a comparison chart of the CBO reviews of the House, Senate Finance and Reid's bill.

Guest Blog by Dr. Tyler Taylor: Responding to Carol Miller's Op-Ed Criticizing Health Care Reform

This is a guest blog by Tyler Taylor, M.D., who has a solo, patient-focused medical practice in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The piece was written in response to Sunday's op-ed in the Albuquerque Journal North by Carol Miller.

As a member of Physicians for a National Health Plan for over five years, and an enthusiastic Obama supporter, I find Carol Miller's op-ed in the Albuquerque Journal disturbing. When people on the right misrepresent the facts, all of my capacity for surprise has been exhausted. It's more upsetting though when my progressive kin seem to be doing that.

I disagree with several of Carol Miller's main points. For example, there is much more in this bill than "health insurance reform." It also is not accurate to say that the "reference benefit package" will include fewer services than most insured people have today, since the commission that will decide that won't even be created till this bill is passed. I fully agree that waiting till 2013 for most of this bill to take effect is unacceptable, but assuming that's a cynical political ploy by Obama seems unjustified. Is it not more likely this was one of many compromises needed to get some Blue Dog support?

Some of Carol's key criticisms relate to the costs to the public, after health care reform takes effect. Because the proposal offers two types of cost controls on insurance costs for those with incomes at 133-400% of the Federal Poverty Line, the burdens on these folks seem likely to be greatly reduced, by my reckoning. I calculate that a family of four earning $35,000 annually would have health coverage expenses of $1750 for premiums and $1,000 for out of pocket expenses (for deductible and co-pays). Thus all four people would be covered for $2750/yr., about 1/5 of what that insurance would cost now. Also, keep in mind that the cap of $5-10,000 on total out of pocket costs that Carol mentions is for those making $77,000-88,000 a year; that cap is certainly not great protection, but is far better than those folks have now (i.e. NONE!).

Basically I think there are three possible starting points for evaluating the current reform proposals in Congress: a) our current healthcare system, b) the likely healthcare system in 5 to 10 years without serious reform, and c) a single payer (or other radically different) system that could be created over the next 5+ years. Carol has used the latter starting point, not accepting that our current political climate has made a single payer system completely impossible to accomplish. I too wish that had not been true, but the financial crash of 2008, the Depression of 2007-2009, the bailouts, the breadth of the Democratic Party, and 28 years of right-wing empowerment have made Medicare for All much too hard a sell at this critical juncture.

If the House bill is judged based on where we currently are, or where we'll be without a major change, I would say it has at least 10 very positive features. I confess that I haven't taken a week to read the actual 1900+ page bill, but the 10-page "Detailed Summary" (at www.house.gov [HR 3962]) and many months of public discussions, convince me this bill would:

Provide insurance for tens of millions of currently uninsured people
Prevent most of the 44,000 deaths now occurring annually for lack of health insurance (I've always suspected this is a very conservative estimate)
Dramatically reduce the illness-related bankruptcies, and associated fears, crimes, divorces, domestic violence, etc.
Substantially increase the authority for federal regulation of health insurance companies
Eliminate the antitrust special treatment of insurers
Start the process of revising the wasteful incentives in health care, and take a few first steps regarding hospital care incentives
Encourage more training of primary care providers
Encourage more preventive care
Begin systematically evaluating what treatments are/aren't of value
Gradually reduce drug costs for Medicare patients (closing the "donut hole")
Make choosing health insurance a much more rational process, from both a financial and a quality standpoint.

Ultimately, the paradigm shift I keep hoping we can make is to viewing a simplified, quality, universal health care system as something that will require patience, determination and many steps to create over the next decade. I believe that is the long view that the Obama administration is taking. I also truly believe that this issue is the Civil Rights movement of today. As it took multiple Supreme Court decisions, and many landmark laws to gradually establish equality of opportunity for all races, our reshaping of something this huge and this profitable can only be done in steps.

Each step establishes new foundational principles, and shifts power away from the health care profiteers. Also, by taking moderate steps, we set up the dynamic for the next round. In a few years, when the financial cost of the coming reforms is causing even more outrage in the wealthier, "unsubsidized" public, eliminating much more of the waste of private health insurance will be the obvious next step. The right-wing hysteria and exaggerations will have been disproven by then, and I believe further progress will be possible. This has been the way of progress on many issues throughout U.S. history.

We probably all agree that this is an imperfect approach, and will be expensive and complex. But as a transitional step, I think it's the best we can get for now, and does accomplish a great deal. Aren't saving those hundreds of thousands of lives and reducing the fears of tens of millions enough to keep us pushing for this?

This is a guest blog by Tyler Taylor, M.D. Dr. Taylor grew up in Birmingham, AL, and went to college in Virginia, where he returned after his medical training. He was a small town family physician in the Shenandoah Valley for 21 years, and then moved, with his wife and daughter, to New Mexico in 2000. He has a solo, patient-focused practice in Los Alamos, and has gotten seriously involved with health care reform only in the last five months.

More than 20 patients and friends helped Dr. Taylor get a full-page newspaper ad campaign going this summer, explaining the top 14 reasons why reform is a must in 2009. With the sponsorship of Health Action New Mexico, it ran in five New Mexico markets this summer/fall, probably reaching 250,000 or more New Mexicans.

If you'd like to submit a piece for consideration as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand corner of the page.

Tom Udall Honors Former Governor Bruce King on Senate Floor

Senator Tom Udall took to the Senate floor today to honor former Governor Bruce King, who died last week at the age of 85. The following is the text of Udall’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

“I rise today to celebrate the life – and mourn the passing – of one of New Mexico’s great public servants.

“This past Friday, Bruce King – the three-time governor of New Mexico and a constant advocate for the average person – left this world after 85 years of devotion to his family, to his community and to his state.

“Bruce King was a self-made man who came from modest roots. Back in 1918, his parents traveled to New Mexico from Texas and traded their Model T for a homestead track, where they raised Bruce and his siblings. Along the way, the elder Kings instilled in their children an appreciation for a hard day’s work, a compassion for people, and a love of public service.

“Bruce carried those lessons into adulthood, and into a life defined by public service.

“He served in the Army in World War II, as a Santa Fe County Commissioner, as a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives and later Speaker of that House, and finally, as a three-term governor elected in 1970, 1978 and once more in 1990.

“Bruce’s legacy as Governor will be felt for generations. Due in no small part to the advocacy of his devoted wife, Alice, Governor King created a new Cabinet-level department focused on the welfare of New Mexico’s children – we call it the Children, Youth and Families Department. Thanks to Bruce and Alice’s vision, more New Mexico children are safe and secure. More are healthy and ready to learn. And more have the support they need to follow their dreams.

“Governor King’s contributions didn’t end there. His leadership was instrumental to the creation of New Mexico’s large and enduring “rainy day” funds, which to this day continue to provide substantial support for education. He reformed New Mexico’s school funding formula so that money is equally distributed across the state. Thanks to Governor King, state education funding now follows the student, regardless of income or geography. He also was an advocate for aggressive economic development, recruiting a new Intel plant to Rio Rancho; for the creation of better, safer roads statewide; and for the establishment of a new border crossing with Mexico.

“But despite all these achievements, what New Mexicans will most remember Bruce for is something more simple, and much harder to come by in politicians these days.

“Bruce wasn’t in politics for the power or for the prestige. He was in politics because of the people. He loved the people of New Mexico, and the people of New Mexico – from Lordsburg and Clayton to Shiprock and Carlsbad and everywhere in between – they loved him right back.

“Bruce enjoyed nothing more than talking to New Mexicans. And almost every morning you would find him doing just that at El Comedor Restaurant in Moriarty. He had a booming voice, and was famous for greeting friends and strangers alike with a handshake and a down-home, ‘How y’all doing? Fine. Fine.’

“I will always remember Bruce as a true cowboy from Stanley who had the most generous spirit. He always saw the best in people. He always did the right thing for New Mexico.

“My family was fortunate to call Bruce and Alice our friends. Our daughter, Amanda, even went to work for Alice in her first job out of college, and had stayed close with them ever since.

“New Mexico will miss the Kings. And we all know our state is a better place for their service and their dedication to its people. As Governor King is laid to rest this week, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring this remarkable public servant.”

Bruce King will lie in state at the New Mexico State Capitol in Santa Fe on Friday, November 20, 2009 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Funeral Services will be on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at the Moriarty High School Gymnasium at 10:00 AM, with Reverend Dr. Russell C. Lee, Lutheran Pastor officiating.

The family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the New Mexico Children's Foundation.

See our earlier posts on Bruce King's passing here and here.