John McComish says that All Day Kindergarten is not Daycare.

I recently received this from our other State Representative, John McComish, in my email inbox.  Any thoughts?

"Dear Friends,

 

Recently, I sent you an update on our very serious budget status.  I wanted to follow up on another important topic that is related to our budget crisis and talk to you about education issues.

 

I know many of you are interested in maintaining appropriate resources for public education and that there has been much controversy regarding All-Day Kindergarten.  Some say it is merely subsidized baby-sitting.  Others claim it is a necessary beginning for today’s modern world and its challenges.  Considering the financial investment involved, I decided to investigate and find out what I could about All-Day K, in person.

 

Toward that end, I visited four different Kindergarten classes in the Kyrene School District.  Without exception, there was considerable learning going on – and certainly no baby-sitting. 

 

I witnessed science lessons (I’ll bet you don’t know what oviparous animals are), math, reading, and spelling lessons.  I also discovered each Kindergarten class in the State of Arizona has required curriculum that includes Numeration, Data Analysis, Measurement and Geometry, Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, Science and Health, and Technology, among others.

 

Based on what I have learned, I will be working very hard during budget negotiations to maintain funding for All-Day K.  The budget crisis we are facing is so severe that some reductions to the K-12 budget will be necessary, but I will do all I can to keep public education cuts to a minimum and to protect All-Day Kindergarten.

 

As always, I look forward to hearing from you with any questions or comments.

 

Sincerely,

 

Representative John McComish

Majority Leader

Legislative District 20

(602) 926-5898"

Healthcare Reform: A Call to Action

In the wake of the current economic disaster, our president and elected officials are struggling to prioritize a mountain of important issues that require immediate attention. There are many voices in their ears attempting to frame the conversation around only a certain subset of these but in the political world, where lobbyists sometimes reign supreme, there is a voice more powerful -- yours. That was the underlying theme of the Healthcare forum held tonight at the Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Chandler, Arizona. The talk, Sponsored by the Progressive Democrats of America, focused mainly on reforms introduced in House Bill 676.

The series of community health care forums sponsored by PDA are both timely and necessary. With so many Americans struggling to make ends meet, the truth is, we cannot afford to get sick. The thought that crosses most of our minds when we consider seeking a physician's opinion is not our health and well being, but: "how much will this cost me?" Unfortunately, this means that conditions go untreated and become more costly to resolve as time (and the disease) progress. We are a nation left wondering why we pay nearly double the cost in healthcare and receive far fewer services than our western counterparts.

This issue has not gone unnoticed by the medical community. The Physicians for a National Health Plan, or PNHP, has given voice to impassioned individuals that have taken it upon themselves to inform the public about proposed solutions to our current medical nightmare. It was with great pleasure that the attendees of this evenings forum welcomed Doctor Jonathan B Weisbuch, a member of PNHP, to speak on the topic of “The broken American Healthcare System and How HB 676 and Others Can Help.”

The key points discussed as necessary areas of reform were cost, access and quality of care with the most urgent of these being access. In short, the bill seeks to build on the successes of Medicare by expanding that coverage to the population in it's entirety. The bill would fix costs, streamline paperwork and retain patient doctor relationships. Many in the audience wanted to know why, if HB 676 was the solution, had it not been strongly advocated for by law makers on behalf of their constituents? It is because we, the constituents, are not doing enough to make our voices heard. During her opening remarks Janet Higgins, co-coordinator of the East Valley Progressive Democrats of America, quoted Senator Bernie Sanders:

the only thing that will work is when we raise public consciousness and millions of people demand that congress work for their interest instead of the wealthy

The purpose of this blog is not just to keep its reader's informed, but to call them to action on issues of great importance. We cannot let the health care problem go unresolved for yet another presidential term because it has been preempted by a more "urgent" issue. So, what can we do?

1. Be an informed advocate! Read HB 676 and the transcript of tonight's healthcare forum in their entirety and talk to your friends and neighbors or forward them this blog!
   
2. Join Healthcare-NOW! or PDA America for monthly call-in days to remind legislators that we care about healthcare.
3. Write the Arizona Republic and the East Valley Tribune voice your concerns about the state of health care in America!
   
4. Contact our Arizona legislators Harry Mitchell, Jon Kyle and John McCain about supporting the American Heath Security Act of 2009.
5. Ask our District 20 representatives Rae Waters (D) and John McComish (R) to support the Arizona Health Security Act when it is introduced.
   
6. Email or fax Senators Kennedy and Baucus and President Obama and let them know that you care about single-payer, not-for-profit, comprehensive universal healthcare, with a concrete example being HB 676.
7. Call 202-456-1111, fax 202-456-2461 , or mail The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500 and let them know that the issue of health care is important to you.
8. Submit ideas you have about healthcare reform
9. Attend one of the many health care forums hosted around the state by Dr. Jonathan Weisbuch!
10. Contact Janet Higgins or 480-545-0219 to get involved!
    

Upcoming Health Care events:

Healthcare reform Townhall
Thursday, April 16, 7pm
Love of Christ Lutheran Church
1525 N Power Rd
Mesa, AZ

Health Care Town Hall
Saturday, April 18, 1-5pm
UA Local 469
3109 N 24th St.
Phoenix, AZ,
contact: phoenix-healthcare-town-hall@googlegroups.com

LD20 Is Talking

We're looking at more and better ways to keep in touch with each other. Among the new things are a twitter feed that you can sign up to follow. You can see the LD20 twitter page here; I know you're going to want to keep up with goings-on in the district, so make sure you check it out.

We're looking at other opportunities, such as a Facebook group - there'll be more information on that later.

We're also trying to get district members to submit calendar items on the web site - if you have a user account, you can post all the details there and help make the monthly meetings a bit shorter. One central spot with all the relevant events will help us all find out what's happening. So, if you've got an event you want the district to know about, go try out posting on the web site. If you've forgotten the link, go here!

Senator Kyl Divorced from Reality on Iraq

Senator Kyl was recently on KJZZ talking about various issues. I was lucky enough to get through, so I posted my chat with the Senator on Youtube:

Latest Column from Frieda in Ahwatukee Foothills News - Lean to the Left

I'm posting the full content of Frieda's recent AFN article. Now I expect to hear some feedback from you folks about this. There's been lots of talk lately because of the completely partisan Presidential Preference election; independents had no voice in that election, and there've been cogent arguments on either side. Other states handle primaries differently from Arizona. What do you think about this?

As we headed into this week’s presidential primary, there was much debate about whether independent voters should have a voice in choosing the parties’ nominees. While changing the rules for future elections is an option, I think there’s a bigger issue at hand.
Since 1998 when independents were given the right to vote in Arizona primaries, voters started registering overwhelmingly as independents. In turn, we’ve seen our parties move toward the ideological extremes.

I have a suggestion for how you can help reverse this trend: Join a party and get involved.

If those who lean slightly left of center join the Democratic Party and those who lean slightly right of center sign up as Republicans, each party would benefit from greater diversity of opinions. These independent voices would bring fresh, new ideas and help moderate the views of each party. Then maybe the partisan gulf between us wouldn’t seem so far to bridge.

So here is my invitation to you, whether you are an independent, a casual Democrat or even a dissatisfied Republican: Come join us and be heard, not just on primary day, but every day.

Contact me at fpollack@finesword.com to learn about the many ways you can get involved, or visit www.d20dems.org. The next meeting of the District 20 Democrats is Feb. 11 at Native New Yorker, 5030 E. Ray Road with dinner at 6:30 and the meeting at 7 p.m.

SCR 1001

Hi everyone

I just wanted to post on here the letter that I submitted to the AZ Republic, East Valley Tribune, and the Ahwatukee Footlhills News.


SCR 1001 written by Senator John Huppenthal (R) and co-sponsored with Senator Jack Harper (R) is a very thinly veiled attempt at quashing the voice of the People of the Great State of Arizona. This bill is an attempt to amend The State of Arizona Constitution by taking away the right of the people to bring forth citizen initiatives to be voted on freely by the People of the State of Arizona. One of the ‘checks and balances’ afforded by the democratic process is the voice of the people to stand up and have a voice in the way our laws are written. When our lawmakers take the initiative to forge their own agendas on their constituents, the people can stand up and help to bring a change to the laws. The framers of The State of Arizona Constitution made that provision in such a way for Citizen Initiatives to ‘check and balance’ our elected officials.

SCR 1001 would amend to State Constitution by taking away the people’s right to act independently of the legislature. It would also amend the constitution by requiring the citizen initiative be first introduced in the state legislature where it would be subject to legislative consideration and enactment.
SCR 1001 is a dangerous piece of legislation that will, in fact, take away the citizen’s voice along with their right to have a say in the direction in the laws of the Great State of Arizona. Senators Huppenthal and Harper are proposing to strip the right of the people to freely have a say in the way our laws are written. It would also take away a fundamental right to vote for the citizen intitive in the most sacred way we are guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

Hope it gets printed!

Joe

District Meeting Tonight - Were You There?

We had a district meeting tonight, and the best discussion I heard had to do with the vision that the participants have. Why are you involved? What gets you interested enough to get active? Is it a global issue? (We heard a little about global warming.) Is it national? (We heard folks talk about stopping the war and ways to get the members of Congress to listen to us.) Is it local? (We heard about issues relating to incinerators and dumps.) There are all kinds of reasons to get out and recruit willing helpers and convince people that your ideas are right. What are yours?

I didn't need to bring this up during the meeting since I can use this blog, but the thing that got me to be active in politics again was the Iraq war. The last time I was really participating was during the Vietnam era, and in the meantime I've been sidetracked by lots of other bits of life. There are things that strike you as so wrong you have to take action. Sometimes the action you're taking may not directly affect the outcome but is, at least, the thing you can do. Now that I'm active again, I can see that my efforts can pay off for lots of other issues that I feel strongly about but by themselves wouldn't have driven me into politics. I am a progressive and support progressive ideas like universal health care, a living wage, safe workplaces, support for diversity, and fair and open elections.

Now, you tell me - what pushes your buttons? What made you get up off the couch and go to the meeting tonight? What gets you out and knocking on your neighbors' doors? What matters to you?