FIXIT - Healthcare

Last night, Manatee/Sarasota Move To Amend screened FIX IT - Healthcare at the Tipping Point.  The documentary took a look at how unaffordable and, in some cases, insufficient health insurance has become for most U.S. residents.  Business owners took stock concerning the difficulty of budgeting with unknowable and ballooning health care costs.  City leaders showed how they had to move funding from their deteriorating or non-functional infrastructure in order to fund rising health insurance premiums for city staff.  A physician limited his practice to Medicare and Medicaid patients, so that he didn't have to deal with the plethora of health insurance company bureaucracies. And then there were the heartbreakers - those whose medical costs had driven them into bankruptcy, even though they were insured.  Finally, the movie showcased the single payer medical system in Canada.

Once we'd all watched the film, Kurt Bateman fielded questions about a Single Payer healthcare system for the United States.  Diane Desenberg tackled the Big Money in Politics side of the issue.  Her research had uncovered PAHCF, The Partnership for America’s Health Care Future.  PAHCF is made up of major pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies and private hospitals.  They have spent the last several months lobbying members of Congress, running online ads, and working with the media to drive down the popularity of Medicare for All.  This single-payer health legislation been gaining support in Congress.

PAHCF includes some of the biggest names in the healthcare industry, including the American Medical Association (AMA), Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), Federation of American Hospitals (FAH) and Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

The members of this partnership have a lot of money to spend and influence to pedal on Capitol Hill. They spent a combined $143 million lobbying in 2018 alone, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

If you missed the movie, "FIX IT - Healthcare at the Tipping Point", you can view it here

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Corporate Power Trivia Night

It started innocently enough with a question brimming with numbers in the single and double digits. How hard could it be?  

"National governments are typically the highest revenue generators in the world.  But in recent years, some corporations are generating more profits than many governments. How many corporations make it in to the top 25 revenue generators in the world?"  

And now for the answer.  By 2016, of the world’s 25 largest revenue generators, 8 were corporations. What happens if one expands the net a bit and looks at the top 100 revenue generators? Corporations are producing an even larger share of revenue. In 2014, 64 of the largest economies in the world were corporations and 36 were governments. Two years later, in 2016, 69 were corporations and 31 governments.  Annual revenues are of course only one indicator of the size of a government or corporation but it is one metric that enables comparison of the two.

Lest one thinks that some radicals manipulated these statistics to fit their agenda, take note that this data came from the CIA World Factbook and the Fortune 500 listings Chart.

Manatee/Sarasota Move To Amend held the first Corporate Power Trivia Night in March, 2019. There were 7 teams competing. Even the seasoned and well-informed amongst us were surprised by some of the questions and answers. Participants commented that they had learned a lot and were surprised at the depth and breadth of corporate constitutional rights. Topics covered included lobbying, prescription drug legislation, corporate personhood, the Farm Bill, the 14th Amendment, net neutrality, and the We-The-People Amendment.

Manatee/Sarasota Move To Amend would be happy to bring a version of this political Trivia Night to your favorite local group and tailor it to your groups' interests.


Source: http://www.corporationsandhealth.org/2017/10/09/the-100-largest-governments-and-corporations-by-revenue-in-2016/

Florida Legislature vs. Public Schools

Move To Amend member, Carol Lerner, has researched the current crop of education-related bills that have been introduced into the 2019 Florida Legislative Session.  Carol reports on the good, the bad, and the omnibus -

Bills to Defeat:  

Omnibus Bill (number pending): The Senate Education Committee, under the leadership of Sen. Manny Diaz, is putting together a broad omnibus education bill, modeled after previous draconian House omnibus education bills of the past two sessions (HB 7069 and HB 7085). 

 One will include direct school vouchers called Family Empowerment Scholarships which will be funded out of the education budget. Sandwiched between school vouchers

Representative Wengay Newton: We Are Disappointed

Amendments to the U.S. Constitution must eventually be ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths
of the states. So at some point, once a proposed amendment has passed either in Congress or by convention, the Florida legislature will need to weigh in. For that reason, Manasota Move to Amend encourages state representatives and senators from Manatee and Sarasota counties to support a 28th amendment - an amendment to end corporate personhood and to state clearly that money is not speech.

Diane Desenberg, one of the members of the Manasota Move To Amend core group, ran into Wengay Newton last week at a film screening. Rep. Newton represents District 70, which includes a sliver of Sarasota and Manatee counties. Diane pressed Wengay Newton for his views on the matter. Diane reports that

Rep. Newton disagreed with the idea of limits on campaign fundraising. He explained that he needed money to win a campaign and that he should be allowed to raise sums from whomever wanted to donate, including corporations.

Manasota Move To Amend is disappointed with such a view. Our political system is increasingly controlled by the wealthy and various special interests. The situation has become so ridiculous that super PACs, which in theory operate independently from candidates, have more money and more influence over campaigns than the actual candidates do. The United States should be a nation in which all people, regardless of their income, can participate in the political process and a nation in which anyone can run for office without begging for contributions from the wealthy and the powerful, in other words a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Rep. Newton, we welcome further discussion of the issue.

Keyan Bliss speaks out

Keyan Bliss, grassroots volunteer coordinator for Move to Amend, spoke to a Sarasota crowd on the anniversary of the Citizens United Supreme Court Decision.  He outlined the Supreme Court lineage of corporate rights. Keyan also updated us as to the progress made at the grassroots level to pass the 28th amendment. In Manatee and Sarasota counties,over 2,800 people have signed the petition. In Florida, over 17,000 have signed. And nationwide, 460,000 people have signed on. Below is just a quick snippet - a sound bite - to remember to "prioritize people and the planet first and not just corporate interests."