Most Kossacks won't be able to take action on this diary, but they might be interested in its contents since Tom Carper is (I hope) well-known as the corporate toady that he is.
Mostly, I hope Delawareans will see it and maybe the news herein can get included in Slink and Eve and others' Action diaries.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) sits on the Senate Finance Committee, though he has not been part of Baucus' Gang of Six. Today Sen. Carper's office posted a press release saying that he will be meeting with constituents via a town hall teleconference on Tuesday, August 25 @ 7:00 p.m..
Tom Carper has been involved in Delaware's politics for a LONG time; since the year after he got his MBA, he's been in an elected statewide office. (If you're keeping score, that was in 1976 when he was 29 years old). He has been our state's treasurer, Congressional Representative, and Governor. He's now Delaware's senior Senator since ol' Joe got his promotion.
Sen. Carper's corporatist tilt would be alarming if it hadn't become so frequent as to be expected.
And, of course, Delaware has a lot of corporations throwing a lot of money his way. He's truly bought by the finance industries, but darned if he hasn't had a good amount of health care $$$ flowing his way too.
From 2005-2010, in terms of donations to Carper's Campaign Committee and his Leadership PAC, health care industries and lobbyists of all stripes have purchased about 18.4% of the Senator.
This is up from 17.7% from 2003-2008 and 16.2% from 2001-2006 (his last reelection cycle).
If one looks only at Senator Carper's Leadership PAC, Health Care and Insurance and Lobbyists provided a whopping 32.5% of the PAC's donations between 2005-2010!
But the only thing you REALLY need to know about Sen. Carper:
He's Vice-Chair of the DLC. Second-in-command to former Rep. Harold Ford. Nuff said.
But he wants to hear what his constituents have to say re: health care. Who am I to refuse?!
The press release states:
For Immediate Release: August 19, 2009
Contact: Katinka Podmaniczky (202) 224-2441
Sen. Carper To Hold A Tele-Town Hall On Health Care Reform
WILMINGTON – On Tuesday, August 25, 2009, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) will hold a tele-town hall meeting on health care reform to hear questions, comments and concerns from Delawareans, and share his own thoughts and priorities. The call will begin at 7 pm.
As part of a month-long effort to have productive conversations about health care reform with as many constituents as he can, Sen. Carper believes that a tele-town hall is the ideal forum to reach thousands of Delawareans for a thoughtful and useful conversation.
The Senate Finance Committee, on which Sen. Carper sits, is working on its own health care reform bill. The committee has not yet finalized its version, and Sen. Carper wants to hear what Delawareans’ views are as he continues to contribute to the legislation.
To sign up for the tele-town hall, constituents may call one of Sen. Carper’s offices in Delaware or Washington, D.C., or sign up on his website, carper.senate.gov.
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Anyhoo...if I do somehow get to speak during this event next Tuesday, I'm not planning on attempting to prove he's a shill; it doesn't seem like a "win friends and influence people" strategy.
What I'm planning to ask came about when I wrote today's email from me to the White House and my Senators (yeah, I email them every day, so sue me).
Senator Carper, there's a simple reason why progressives are dismayed at how easily a public option is getting bargained away: they've done the math.
As President Obama said, the BEST way to lower the cost curve and provide the best care to the most people for the least investment is a single payer system. Of course, he went on to state (and I believe most progressives concede) that changing from our current system to single payer is not possible at this time.
So what else could have a considerable impact on bringing down costs and providing access to all Americans?
It is obviously NOT handing existing insurance companies few restrictions and 50 million new customers; while this may add to insurance companies' profits (and the resultant campaign contributions), it will do nothing to relieve the bills of most of the ever-lowering middle class.
The right answer is to permit all Americans a CHOICE to buy into a Medicare-like program.
Co-ops, especially the weak regional alternatives Sen. Conrad is discussing, will not have the power to achieve lower costs for most middle-class citizens whose premiums are skyrocketing. In fact, the types of co-ops Sen. Conrad has discussed publicly would include BLUE CROSS/BLUE SHIELD as a co-op under his state's laws.
The only way you can do something for those of us already struggling to pay our bills is to provide a public option to keep insurance companies honest. The President says the public option is the best way to provide cost controls and improve access; as recently as last November, Sen. Baucus was promoting a public option in his written materials.
What has changed?
If we're going to spend nearly a trillion dollars to invest in a new health reform program, why risk it as startup costs for a private co-op network that may or may not work instead of in a proven model such as a Medicare-like public option that gives us the most bang for our buck?
If I get to speak at all, I would use only the last three paragraphs (beginning "The only way...") If anyone has suggestions how I can improve upon that part without lengthening it very much, pleeeeeeease comment.
Delawareans, use the contact info below to make sure progressive viewpoints are represented in this telephone town hall.
They can't make it easier to participate...it's a phone call. If it runs long, you can still watch Hell's Kitchen in the background!
Of course, what worries me is that Crazy Eileen and her 'nothing better to do' folks will wave their virtual birth-certificate-baggies in force and only a few of us progressives will show up!
Use Carper's website to sign up (in the "Choose an Issue or Request" drop-down, "Tele-Town Hall" is one of the options).
The D.C. office is open 9:00-5:00 Monday-Friday
All Delaware offices are open 8:30-5:30 Monday-Friday
Washington, D.C. office
United States Senate
513 Hart Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2441
Fax: (202) 228-2190
Wilmington
301 North Walnut Street
Suite 102L-1
Wilmington, DE 19801
Phone: (302) 573-6291
Fax: (302) 573-6434
Dover
300 South New Street
2215 Federal Building
Dover, DE 19904
Phone: (302) 674-3308
Fax: (302) 674-5464
Georgetown
12 The Circle
Georgetown, DE 19947
Phone: (302) 856-7690
Fax: (302) 856-3001