PAprogessivevoters.blogspot.com

Library Officials to Hold Press Conference on Possible Closures...

2009-10-05T21:12:00.000-07:00

Library officials are holding a press conference tomorrow--Tuesday, October 6, to share the details of a plan that may include the closure of a number of popular branch libraries.

WHEN: Tuesday, October 6, 2009

TIME: 11:00 AM

WHERE: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Main

4400 Forbes Avenue, Oakland

Director's Conference Room

Show your support for your local libraries by attending this event in full force.

Your advocacy and support on behalf of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is crucial. If you are unable to attend this event, CLICK HERE TO GET INVOLVED...

Stay tuned...2009 PAprogressive voters guide coming soon.

Hiatus...

2009-08-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry PA Progressive Voters will be on a hiatus for a month or so while I do some paid work...hope to get it back up and running soon.

Thanks for your patience.

FUNDING FOR THE ARTS IS IN SERIOUS JEOPARDY

2009-07-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

Every year, thousands of students learn art through various partnerships with the PA Council on the Arts. For many students, this is the only art program they have in their school.

Without this funding, their art classes will disappear. If you believe that art plays an important role in our world--take action!

Please help advocate for continued arts funding in the Pennsylvania State budget. Visit citizensfortheartsinpa.org for step-by-step instructions on how to contact your legislator.

Phone calls and hand written personal notes get the most attention.

Call Governor Rendell's Office at 717-787-2500 or 412-565-5700 or e-mail the governor here.

JACK WAGNER ANNOUNCES HE'LL RUN FOR GOVERNOR

2009-07-13T06:25:00.001-07:00

Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner held a press conference on Friday to announce he
is "unofficially" throwing his hat in the ring for Governor joining Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, a man he defeated for state senate years ago, in the race for the state's highest elected office.

Governor Rendell's second term expires in 2010.

Wagner also released a plan on Thursday that offered suggestions on how the state could save $1.3 billion including: tapping rainy day funds, closing loopholes in Medicaid billing, declaring tax amnesty and asking state lawmakers to chip in part of their own surpluses.
How about minimizing the legislature? That would undoubtedly cut some of the fat...more on this issue in the next post...

DR. DEAN ENTERS THE HEALTH CARE DEBATE

2009-07-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

Howard Dean has worn many hats in the last several years: physician, governor, presidential candidate, chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), but now he’s coming full circle, hanging up the hats and going back to his white coat.

On July 5, Dean’s new book Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform: How We Can Achieve Affordable Medical Care for Every American and Make Our Jobs Safer was released.

Although the majority of Americans think of him as a politician, Dr. Dean had a long career as a family practitioner before he entered the political arena. By his own admission, Dean says he entered politics in large part to reform health care.

Under his watch as Governor of Vermont, the uninsured rate dropped from 12.7% to 9.6%. One of Dean’s most notable achievements as Governor was his expansion of the "Dr. Dynasaur" program. The program ensures near-universal health coverage for children and pregnant women and has since helped place Vermont in the top five states for best health care coverage.

According to Web sites explaining the book, Dean’s ideas don’t differ much from Obama’s with the exception that Dean is adamant that a successful plan should include a universally available public insurance option similar to the highly effective Medicare system.

Although there is much talk about “bipartisanship” agreement, Dean also stresses that President Obama and congressional Democrats should not compromise on the public option because without it the private health insurance system will have no incentive to reduce costs and eliminate ever increasing gaps in coverage.

The point of making the case for the public option, Dean says, is “to let the American people know that they should have a choice, and the choice should be up to them, not the government and not the insurance companies.”

There is no doubt Dean played an important role in breathing new life into the Democratic Party with his 50-State Strategy and his keen ability to raise funds via the Web, but time will tell if his skills transfer in helping to solve our nation’s health care problems.

If nothing else, Dean’s entrance into the burgeoning health care debate should make things a bit more interesting.

HOWARD DEAN PITTSBURGH BOOK SIGNING
August 14, 2009, 2:00 p.m.
Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Southside Works--call 412-381-3600 for more information.

COMMENTS…

Do you think Howard Dean will help or hurt the debate? Which system do you prefer—public plan or private options?

DO YOU RIDE YOUR BIKE TO WORK?

2009-07-03T15:49:00.000-07:00

New IRS Subsidy to Help Commuter Cyclists

Congress has added bicycle commuters to groups of workers who can get a tax break to help cover the cost of getting to and from the office. Just as employers can provide tax-free reimbursement for the cost of parking or transit passes, they can also subsidize the cost of biking to work. At $20 a month, the cap on tax-free money for cycling is far less than what’s available for parking ($230 a month) and transit passes ($120 a month). But every little bit helps.

PERSONAL STORIES ON WHY WE NEED HEALTH CARE REFORM...

2009-07-02T05:34:00.001-07:00

The Obama administration has put up a web site documenting people's stories about why we need health care reform...

IS PENNSYLVANIA GREEN ENOUGH?

2009-07-01T04:55:00.000-07:00

The Mother Nature Network just announced the Top Ten Greenest cities—Do you think any Pennsylvania cities were on the list?

Not this time around, but they could be if people in Pennsylvania are willing to make green living a priority, support green legislation and ask our legislators about their green voting record.

The majority, seven out of the ten, are cities in Western states. So, if Pennsylvania were to pick up the pace, perhaps we could be one of the leading states on the East Coast.

Although the EPA has not established official criteria for ranking the greenness of a city, there are several key areas to measure for effectiveness in carbon footprint reduction.

Areas include:

Air and water quality
Efficient recycling and management of waste
Percentage of LEED-certified buildings
Acres of land devoted to green space
Use of renewable energy sources
Making it easier to access products and services to accommodate a green lifestyle (organic products, buying local, clean transportation methods)

Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco just passed the first mandatory composting law in the U.S. What does this mean and why is this important?

New statistics show that people in San Francisco already keep an impressive 72 percent of their waste out of landfills.

The mayor's office had completed an analysis of the city's waste-stream and discovered that "about two-thirds of the garbage people throw away, approximately 500,000 tons annually, could have been recycled or turned to compost. San Francisco already converts over 400 tons of food scraps and other compostable discards into high-grade organic compost every day."

The ordinance does not require deposits or bonds, which makes it small business-friendly and also limits the amount of bureaucracy needed to implement the program. The main challenge is compliance.

Newsom said, “When it comes to our recycling programs, we’re always in the development phase. In order to meet our ambitious goal of 75 percent recycling by 2010 and zero waste by 2020, we are constantly looking for additional materials to recycle, and for emerging markets to make use of our recyclables.”

Zero waste by 2020, emerging markets for recyclables--these are the types of goals and ideas we need to be pushing in Pennsylvania.

DISCUSSION TOPICS:

What are your thoughts? What should our legislators be doing to make Pennsylvania greener?

Would people in Pennsylvania go for mandatory composting? A solar energy program? Or, with Pittsburgh’s aging sewage system—how about composting toilets….

President Obama Questioned about Health Care in ABC News Forum with Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer in special edition of Prime Time Prescription for America Questions for the President - ABC News

2009-06-27T08:31:00.001-07:00

President Obama Questioned about Health Care in ABC News Forum with Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer in special edition of Prime Time Prescription for America Questions for the President - ABC News

Shared via AddThis

PRIORITY #1 Health Care Reform

2009-06-25T11:59:00.000-07:00

Our leaders need to stand firm on the Public Option Plan.

Give America a choice and a voice. We support healthcare reform that allows individual Americans to choose either a universally available public healthcare option like Medicare or for-profit private insurance. A public option is the only way to guarantee healthcare for all Americans and its inclusion is non- negotiable.

Any legislation without the choice of a public option is only insurance reform and not the healthcare reform America needs.

To sign a petition asking our leaders to support real healthcare reform go to...

SIGN THE PETITION