Thursday, July 24, 2008

A Real Chance To Help Uninsured

POSTED BY ARNOLD HAMILTON

Window dressing? Or substance?

It's way too early to know whether the House's Health Care Reform Task Force is just another interim study for show -- or a meaningful attempt to help the one in five uninsured Oklahomans.

This much is certain: House Speaker Chris Benge picked a dynamite pair to lead the search for solutions.

State Reps. Doug Cox, the Legislature's only physician, and Kris Steele, renowned for his work on behalf of children and seniors, are two Republicans with a history of straight-shooting independence -- party loyalty be damned.

At times, it's left both in the deep freeze with their more partisan colleagues.

The fact Benge tabbed Cox and Steele for the difficult assignment suggests the first-year speaker gets it: It's unconscionable that 700,000 of our fellow residents are without insurance that affords them the most basic, preventative health care.

The human toll is staggering.

As state Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland noted in today's first task force meeting, Oklahoma ranks at or near rock bottom in nearly every imagineable health category.

She cited these health rankings of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, courtesy of the Commonwealth Fund and United Health Foundation:

Oklahoma is 50th in the number of primary care physicians per 100,000 and in rate of cardiovascular deaths; 48th in the percentage of insured adults and adults 50-and-over who received recommended screening and preventative care; 44th in percentage of insured children and prevalence of obesity ...

It seemed her PowerPoint of pitiful health indicators would never end.

"This is perhaps the most significant economic and social challenge facing the state and the nation," Holland said of the task force's mission to find ways to reduce the number of uninsured.

Benge's decision to put Cox and Steele in charge of the task force was a good first step -- but it's not enough. He needs to put the speaker's considerable political muscle behind the project, not only demanding fair, honest and balanced research, but also fighting to transform the panel's recommendations into good public policy.

If he does, his shaky first session as speaker quickly will be forgotten. More importantly, Oklahoma will take a giant step toward realizing its promise.

The task force meets again Aug. 12 at the Capitol.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Whinings Of A GOP Drama King

Editor's Note: A federal bankruptcy trustee wants to reopen state Rep. Randy Terrill's three-year-old case, alleging the controversial lawmaker failed to report all of his assets. Terrill, best known as architect of the state's mean-spirited immigration law [HB 1804], blames a "cartel of immigration lawyers" for his election-eve woes. The matter could be referred to federal prosecutors for review.

BY KAREN WEBB

"We have a bunch of nameless, spineless character assassins who want to go around with hoods over their heads and shoot me in the back and use my wife to do it." – State Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore.

Is the guy who is saving us from all those illegals really blaming this on immigration lawyers? Obviously he thinks you should be a “born in the USA” American before you get to ignore the laws.

It brings to mind former Rep. Tim Pope wearing a gun on the Oklahoma House floor because he was expecting a shootout with gays. The only thing worse, in Oklahoma, is a gay immigration lawyer who speaks Spanish in front of Randy.

“Spineless character assassins?”

Really, Randy, coming from a guy who would go after low-income 5th graders for their Christmas decorations; pardon me if I don’t join your pity party. Then there are all those kids, born here, you want to punish for their parents wanting a better life and not deserving it.

“Hoods over their heads?”

Randy, that is a bit too much coming from a guy who demeans 5th graders on TV and in the press. They shot him in the back using his wife? Talk about your drama kings. Maybe we need to know exactly what was charged on all those credit cards. Maybe he really blames his wife because maybe they weren’t for books, tuition or gym shorts? Are we sure he didn’t use the credit cards to do campaign purchases?

Is it true that the Terrills owed less than $80,000, mainly on credit cards, and they made $100,000 a year? Is it true that he claimed he was a consultant to the State of Oklahoma instead of a representative?

So he had loaned or paid campaign expenses he was to be reimbursed for. They should have been included in his filing as assets and they weren’t. Then the campaign repaid him after he was granted bankruptcy protection.

These things happen all the time, especially to Republicans. With all those corporate lawyers you would think one would know about this. Stranger things have happened; former President George H.W. Bush was nearly indicted for tax fraud during the 1984 re-election campaign because he “inadvertently omitted” the sale of his house on his tax return.

Ed Meese, while working for President Ronald Reagan “inadvertently omitted” his wife’s income on his joint tax return. “Inadvertently omitted” was the term most used when Republicans were found out.

The fiscally conservative are, in reality, fiscally challenged. There was the savings and loan mess and Iran/Contra of the Reagan years and the Enron, the mortgage crisis and so much more in the Bush years.

The problem comes from having their cake, eating the whole thing too fast and puking it up on the rest of us.

Oklahoma has more than its share of family values nutcases. This year the lunatics are attempting to take over the asylum. First, we had Rep. Sally Kern claiming that the Oklahoma gay agenda was more dangerous than al-Qaeda. This week, multi-indicted Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart came out with an “edgy” comic book claiming toga-clad homosexuals are luring boy scouts in the woods.

Now the savior of the white race from people who speak other languages is claiming nameless, spineless, hooded lawyers are assassinating his character and using his wife to shoot him in the back.

You would think he believes it was immigration lawyers who forced her to charge whatever she charged on those cards.

By the way, the guy filing the suit isn’t nameless. Is he an immigration lawyer?

Randy thinks Hispanics should be a lot more forgiving even if he plans to toss their grandparents and their grandchildren into holding facilities indefinitely.

The author lives in Moore, OK