A whip for Rep. Pascrell on HCR

My own Congressman, Democrat Bill Pascrell of New Jersey's 8th District, publicly opposed comprehensive health care reform in the immediate aftermath of the Mass. election and still has not committed to voting  for the Senate bill and reconciliation package.  In the piece below, running in today's News-Record of Maplewood and South Orange (NJ), I ask my neighbors to push Pascrell into the yes column:

If You Support Health Care Reform, Call Bill Pascrell

In a speech presenting his final health care reform proposal on March 3, President Obama laid it on the line.  It’s time to pass comprehensive reform, he told Congress and the country:

I, therefore, ask leaders in both houses of Congress to finish their work and schedule a vote in the next few weeks.  From now until then, I will do everything in my power to make the case for reform.  And I urge every American who wants this reform to make their voice heard as well --- every family, every business, every patient, every doctor, every nurse, every physician’s assistant.  Make your voice heard. 

If you live in New Jersey’s 8^th Congressional District (covering much of South Orange and Maplewood) and you want to answer the President’s call, then talk to Representative Bill Pascrell -- who has been running the other way.   

When the Democrats lost their filibuster-proof Senate majority in the Jan. 19 Massachusetts election, supporters of  comprehensive health care reform quickly realized that there is just one viable path: have the House pass the Senate bill, which the Senate passed with a 60-vote majority in December, while negotiating to accommodate some House goals  through a process known as reconciliation, which allows budget-related legislation to pass the Senate with a bare majority.  The President’s health care proposal consists of a package of such fixes, such as limiting the excise tax on expensive plans and improving subsidies for middle class buyers of insurance.

In late January, Rep. Pascrell was having none of this. He told Politico that he is “tired” of the health care reform process and wants to end it. “The people in Massachusetts sent a clear message,” he said. “If we didn’t get it in New Jersey or Virginia, we should’ve gotten it, certainly, Tuesday.” He indicated that he wanted to scrap comprehensive reform and pass whatever scraps of reform can garner a few Republican votes.

Healthcare inflation reaches every nook and cranny

We often read these days that healthcare inflation is holding wages down. Looks like it also cuts into educational programs (as well as doubtless holding teachers' wages down). Here's some news from my hometown of South Orange, NJ (united in a school district with Maplewood):

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ - The school district will pay higher health insurance premiums for its 750 full-time employees starting in January.

The news did not catch the district off-guard. They budgeted a double-digit increase in anticipation that premiums would go up.

But in a decision that affects districts statewide, the 25 percent increase that the School Employees’ Benefits Commission approved July 14 was more than what officials thought it would be.

“This is a kick in the pants,” said school board President Mark Gleason Tuesday.

He said the district had enjoyed a couple of years of moderate increases. This, however, was far different.

“Every year, it takes more and more away from our budget,” Gleason said.

With $112 million budget already set for fiscal 2009, the district will need to find savings or cut spending to make up the projected $400,000 difference between the budgeted rate hike versus what was approved last month.

Every year, the school budgeting in our towns is an exercise in squeezing blood from a stone, a desperate struggle over this cut or that. How timely that this year, healthcare is taking an extra bite.