The Nation has a great article up today about how students are being affected by cash-strapped colleges raising tuition, and what young people have been doing to fight for an affordable education. With states chipping away at their financial aid programs–or, if California’s Governor gets his way, terminating (get it?) them–and enacting cuts for higher education that are passed on to students as tuition and fee hikes, many students across the country share the student representative to the Tennessee Board of Regents’ sentiment:
“They’re treating us like we’re ATMs, not like we’re the future of this nation.”
The Nation’s article did a good job of laying out what is at stake in the struggle for college affordability:
College affordability is not just a student issue. It is about what kind of society we are going to have: one of well-educated citizens who are able to grapple with questions about the meaning of life and the existence of God, find cures for cancer, ease climate change and critique the powerful, or one in which ignorance and mediocrity are blandly, even cheerfully accepted. In Default, a movie-in-progress about student debt, a young woman says, “We’re just going to get stupider until there’s a change. We’re just going to get dumber.”
So, you know that letter I mentioned in my last blog? The one written by nine Republican Senators and sent to Obama to passionately object a public health plan?
“The signatories argued that creation of a so-called “public option” will undermine private insurers and eventually limit provider and treatment choices for consumers.”
Well I did a little digging and came upon this curious finding:
It seems as though the nine Senators that signed the letter each racked up close to $2 million in donations from health insurance and health care interests , totaling to $17.7 million.
All nine Senators sit on the Senate Finance Committee, which is actively engaged in debating health care reform. The nine signers include Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Jim Bunning (R-KY), Mike Crapo(R-ID), Pat Roberts (R-KS), John Ensign (R-NV), Mike Enzi ( R-WY), and John Cornyn (R-TX).
$ 17 million?! If you ask me, that’s one expensive letter. But I guess to the insurance industry, the money is worth it. It’s obviously being put to good use, right? I am sure the private insurance fat cats are analyzing the pros and cons of bribing Congress and what that means at a time like this. Maybe their analysis goes something like this:
Strongly worded letter to the President opposing his public health insurance option = $2 million
Using fear-mongering to convince Americans that a public option would mean government take-over and therefore they should trust the industry instead= $17 million
Winning the health care debate (thanks to those Members of Congress that had our backs!) and continuing to make ridiculous profits while Americans struggle to pay for their asthma inhalers = Priceless
So that’s the industry side of it, but what about Congress? Are our Senators there to represent us or the money?
This kind of campaign financing is not OK. This kind of back-door influencing is not how decisions on our futureshould be made. If we are ever going to get real health care reform, real climate change solutions, and affordable access to higher education, we have to Change Congress. Check out the great site on campaign finance reform that has to happen now!
If you are struggling to make your monthly payment on your student loan bill, or are interested in a career in public service, you should check out this new educational video by the Project on Student Debt:
There will be another congressional hearing about the climate bill tomorrow, and guess who is on the stand? Five people representing fossil industries, one faith leader, and an economist from the most corporatist ‘environmental’ organization around.
There are no young people on the panel and our only ally, Maria Castellanos from the United Church of Christ, is also the only witness who isn’t white, a man, and whose pockets aren’t lined with bloody fossil fuel cash.
Wouldn’t it be nice to let these people know what we think they should be saying? I looked around for their e-mail addresses for you. Pick one person, and send them a quick note. I chose Mr. Keohane from the Environmental Defense Fund and this is what I’m writing him:
I have an idea: When we realize we have a debilitating problem with our health care system and our medical bills are causing families to go bankrupt, why don’t we draft a reform proposal that actually does nothing to reform the system, but includes a procrastination clause that states that maybe later when the insurance industry is not sticking to their promises and millions of Americans are still uninsured and bankrupt- we might then decide to provide a solution. That way we can call it reform but really it’s just delay and avoidance. Sounds good right?
Well I can’t take credit because I didn’t come up with the idea – the conservatives and health insurance executives concocted that brilliant proposal. Yes, this ridiculous scheme – a fall back option for the public health insurance plan – actually does exist. It’s called the “trigger” and it is quickly spreading through Congress.
A public health insurance plan, either in the form of Medicare or an insurance pool that provides a choice of coverage for all Americans, has been the main topic of discussion in the health care reform debate thus far (unfortunately more progressive options such as single-payer health care are just getting laughed off of the stage by industry and conservatives – but hey, maybe one day we will get there.) The “trigger” is basically a way to kill the public health insurance option before it even gets out of the gate. The proposal calls for a public option to kick in a few years down the road, only if “triggered” – in others words, when private insurance companies fail to bring down health care costs and expand coverage. Well, we all know that in legislative terms “a few years” means never and that the private industry has already failed at cutting costs and expanding coverage. So why delay the inevitable need for a real solution?
But there is hope for health care reform, in fact, President Obama is not backing off of his stance for a public health insurance option. The President met with a group of senators last Tuesday and wrote a letter to Senators Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Baucus (D-Mont.), both chairmen on the leading health reform committees, that was wrought with a sense of urgency and insistence on a public choice for all Americans. See a clip from the letter below:
I strongly believe that Americans should have the choice of a public health insurance option operating alongside private plans. This will give them a better range of choices, make the health care market more competitive, and keep insurance companies honest.
Students around the country are getting together on Facebook to tell Congress that they should put students over banks! Groups are going up in each state, and each group will serve as a petition to the state’s Senators. The petitions call on Congress to support President Obama’s plan to cut wasteful subsidies to banks, and use the estimated $94 billion in savings to provide grants for students.
Campus Progress and partner organizations (PIRGs, USSA, etc.) will make sure to let Senators know about the petitions. Join your state’s petition, and invite your friends! You can find a link to your state’s group here:
Funding our Future is a campaign to pass a progressive federal budget for 2010 and ensure that our nation.s key economic choices invest in our education, spark reform of our health care system, and address climate change through cap and trade and clean energy investments. Click here for more info.
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for June, 2009.
The Nation has a great article up today about how students are being affected by cash-strapped colleges raising tuition, and what young people have been doing to fight for an affordable education. With states chipping away at their financial aid programs–or, if California’s Governor gets his way, terminating (get it?) them–and enacting cuts for higher education that are passed on to students as tuition and fee hikes, many students across the country share the student representative to the Tennessee Board of Regents’ sentiment:
So, you know that 
There will be another 
I have an idea: When we realize we have a debilitating problem with our health care system and our medical bills are