| Author | Message | | Guest | | Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2002 10:49 pm Post subject: PETITION to STOP US MILITARY AID to ISRAEL |
| http://www.stop-us-military-aid-to-israel.net/petition/index.php3#namelist
Petition to stop US military aid to Israel STOP US MILITARY AID TO ISRAEL
To: President George W. Bush and the United States Congress
We, the undersigned, are appalled by the human rights abuses against Palestinians by the Israeli government, the continued military occupation and colonization of Palestinian territory by Israeli armed forces and settlers, the forcible eviction of the inhabitants from, and the demolition of, Palestinians homes, towns, and cities. We find the recent attacks on Israeli civilians unacceptable and abhorrent. But these should not and do not negate the human rights of the Palestinians.
We find it reprehensible that US tax dollars, in the form of US military aid to Israel, are being used to fund Israel's oppressive policy towards the Palestinians. This aid not only sustains Israel's illegal occupation and provides the means for Israel to continue violating the human rights of Palestinians, but also violates the US Arms Export Control Act, which prohibits the President from furnishing military aid or selling weapons to any country that consistently violates internationally recognized human rights standards. We demand the immediate cessation of all US military aid to Israel until Israel honors United Nations authority and abides by the rules of international law. In particular, we demand that:
1. Israel comply with United Nations Resolution 242, which notes the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war, and which calls for withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from the Occupied Territories.
2. Israel comply with the United Nations Committee Against Torture 2001 Report, which recommends that Israel's use of torture be ended.
3. Israel cease the building of new settlements, and vacate existing settlements, in the Occupied Territories, in compliance with the Fourth Geneva Convention. ("The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into territories it occupies"; Article 49, paragraph 6.)
4. Israel acknowledge in principle the applicability of United Nations Resolution 194 with respect to the rights of refugees, and work towards a just and practical solution.
We furthermore demand that the United States cease all military aid to any nation that has been shown to violate human rights, including Egypt, Turkey, Colombia, or any other. This petition focuses on Israel because it is the largest recipient of US military aid in the world.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
If you agree with the petition, please sign it by entering the information requested below. Please be assured that none of the information you provide will be used for any other purpose or passed on to any other organization.
Required fields are shown in red
First Name
Last Name
Are you a US taxpayer? Yes No
Group/University Affiliation
(This does not imply endorsement)
Email Address
City
State (if in US) Select State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Country Select A Country United States Canada United Kingdom Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Democratic People's Republic of Korea Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Holy See Honduras Hong Kong Special Administrative Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran (Islamic Republic of) Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Special Administrative Region of China Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Federated States of, Monaco Mongolia Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Occupied Palestinian Territory Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Republic of Korea Republic of Moldova Réunion Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan Province of China Tajikistan Thailand The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United Republic of Tanzania United States United States Virgin Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Viet Nam Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Yugoslavia Zambia Zimbabwe
Comments
(Maximum size 255 characters)
Can we send you occasional updates on this issue?
We will not share your email address with anyone. Yes
Would you like your name to be displayed in public?
Only name, city, country & comments will be publicly displayed Yes
Important: After you add your name to the petition, an email will be sent to the email address you've provided. To finish signing, please follow the simple instructions in the email. | |  | | Guest | | Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2002 12:50 am Post subject: |
| | We don't need a petition. We just had an election. | | | | Guest | | Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2002 5:15 am Post subject: Need a Third Party Free from Zionist Influence in the USA |
| | Anonymous wrote: | | We don't need a petition. We just had an election. |
Less than 40 percent of the eligible voters voters... And the Democrats wouldn't have cut aid to Israel either, so the petition is needed badly.... Check http://www.whatreallyhappened.com to see how much each member of Congress gets from the pro-Israel (AIPAC) lobby... | | | | Guest | | Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2002 8:41 am Post subject: NO MORE USA AID FOR ISRAEL |
| Israel is asking for 10 billion on top of the 2.9 million we are going to send them. Yet, and get this---Congress would not extend unemployment benefits before they left for their Christmas vacation!!!!! This is WRONG WRONG WRONG. Millions will run out of benefits before Christmas. There is something wrong with this picture. 10 billion to help Israel's economy but nothing for the us citizens.
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/middle-east-and-asia/2002/11/12/us-financial-aid-to-israel-figures-facts-and-impact.php
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021122/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_us_aid_3
Israel Eyes Up to $10B in U.S. Aid
Thu Nov 21, 7:40 PM ET
By DAN PERRY, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel will ask the United States for loan guarantees aimed at jump-strating its economy which has been damaged by two years of violence and the request will total between $8 billion and $10 billion, a senior government official said Thursday.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that the Finance and Defense ministries are finalizing the request and would forward it to the United States in the coming days.
The request for guarantees on foreign bank loans would be in addition to the $2.9 million in direct loans and grants that Israel receives annually from the United States, the official said.
Israel, which receives the largest U.S. aid package of any country, relies on the loan guarantees to borrow at lower interest rates.
There is no cost to the United States if Israel repays the loans and Israel has never defaulted on a loan, the official said.
A State Department spokesman, Philip T. Reeker, said the United States has not yet received the request and declined to comment.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites), campaigning for re-election, asked President Bush (news - web sites) for $10 billion in loan guarantees at a White House meeting last month, according to Jane's Foreign Report.
Bush, following the Oct. 16 meeting, said "terror has affected the Israeli economy," but made no specific mention of further loan guarantees.
"We've got great confidence in the Israeli economy, because we've got great confidence in the Israeli people," Bush told reporters at the time. "I'm convinced that the economy will be strong."
More specific requests were discussed when Sharon's chief of staff, Dov Weisglass, met with U.S. officials in Washington several weeks ago, the official said.
Israel's $100 billion economy has been battered by the violence, which has driven away tourists and investors, as well as the global economic slowdown and the crisis in the high-tech sector on which the country depends.
Economic growth was above 6 percent in 2000, but has ground to a halt. More than 10 percent of the work force is unemployed and inflation has risen to about 8 percent this year.
The official said the economic outlook could worsen if the United States attacks Iraq — which many fear could prompt Baghdad to fire missiles, or chemical or biological weapons, at Israel.
The United States guaranteed $10 billion in loans for Israel a decade ago to help it absorb immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
Angry over Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, then-President George Bush held up the guarantees until the hard-line Yitzhak Shamir was replaced as Israeli prime minister by more moderate Yitzhak Rabin (news - web sites), who signed an interim peace treaty with the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Sat Nov 23, 2002 5:26 am They have the NERVE to ask for more money !!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These two articles together should be enough to make one
vomit......but here we go again.......MADNESS/OUTRAGEOUS!!!! mimi
US TAXPAYERS to cover their debts while Americans are DENIED further
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS HERE?! Congress takes a recess BEFORE taking care of
our citizens, but AFTER they grant themselves another $5000 PAY
INCREASE?????
outrageous.....
**********************************
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/DocView.asp?did=636993&fid=942
Israel submits $8-10b aid and guarantees request to US
Ministry of Finance director general Ohad Marani is in Washington to
lobby for the aid. Details of the discussions are being kept secret.
Zeev Klein 21 Nov 02 15:00
Israel has submitted an official request for special economic aid from
the US. The $8-10 billion request includes a special grant and US guarantees
for Israel government loans on overseas markets.
Israel is imposing a media blackout on discussions with the US about
the particulars of the aid, fearing that publicity will harm the chances of
obtaining a positive response from the US administration before the
elections in Israel.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reportedly held a secret discussion with
Ministry of Finance director general Ohad Marani and Ministry of Finance
Accountant General Nir Gilad on the request for guarantees.
At a meeting last night with local authority heads, Sharon confirmed
he is acting to obtain special US economic aid. Sharon expressed concern
that "superfluous statements uttered in the heat of the primaries" are
liable to harm Israel by delaying a positive response from the US
administration.
Marani left in mid-week for the US, officially on a "lecture tour to
raise money." Marani will probably take advantage of his visit to the US to
meet with US officials, particularly those in economic posts, to lobby for
the aid and guarantee request. Marani is a former Israel economic minister
in Washington.
In an interview yesterday with IDF Radio (Galei Zahal), Marani said,
"The US is willing to help Israel." Marani declined to provide details,
saying, "I can't comment on that. When I have something to say, I'll say it.
The US administration is willing in principle help Israel economically. We
are considering several possibilities."
According to Marani, US guarantees are not a step backward, nor would
they affect Israel's economic independence, although the correct solution
for financing economic activity is through faster growth. "After two years
of recession, we have negative growth. Growth may be positive in 2003, but
at a low level," Marani added.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on November 21, 2002
Next article: Business product down 10.4% since intifada began
**************************************************************************
White House to request $2.16b. in military aid for Israel
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/PrinterFul
l&cid=1037850926296
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
JANINE ZACHARIA Nov. 22, 2002
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
WASHINGTON The Bush administration has formally informed Israel it will
request $2.16 billion in foreign military assistance for it as part of its
fiscal year 2004 budget. It is a slight increase over the $2.1b. the US has
asked Congress to approve in 2003.
Approval of most parts of the 2003 US budget has been postponed until the
new Congress arrives here in January.
The slight increase in military assistance was scheduled as part of a plan
sketched out in the 1990s to boost military aid and phase out all economic
assistance by 2008.
In 2003, the US asked Congress to approve $600 million in economic aid. The
2004 request should drop to $480m.
The US informed Israel of the request during strategic talks last week.
"This administration fully appreciates the dangers Israel faces from
proliferation and conventional arms build-ups in the region, as well as
acknowledges the substantial risks Israel has taken to pursue peace," the
State Department said in a statement Thursday.
The statement continued that the administration is committed "to maintaining
and enhancing Israel's security and qualitative edge over any combination of
adversaries."
In addition to its regular foreign assistance, Congress approved a defense
spending bill for 2003 last week that includes funding for joint strategic
programs.
Among the appropriations are $120m. for the Arrow anti-missile defense
program and $23.5m. for the Tactical High Energy Laser, designed to deal
with Katyusha rockets. A targeting pod, which enables aircraft to fly and
target in bad weather and at night received $60m. Development of unmanned
aerial vehicles received $18.6m.
White House to request $2.16b. in military aid for Israel
Sat Nov 23, 2002 5:34 am Post subject: JINSA ZIONISTS IN THE BUSH REGIME ARE BLEEDING US FOR ISRAEL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020902&s=vest&c=1 | | | | Guest | | Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2002 10:45 am Post subject: The blackmailing of America! |
| [The blackmailing of America! More American tax-payers funds needed to support a racist regime! ]
PM Sharon plans to ask U.S. for covert aid that could top $10 billion
Reported by: Amnon Barzilai and Natan Guttman
http://www.sabawoon.com/articles.asp?id=11308&view=detail
10/21/2002
(Ha`aretz, Israel):
An inter-ministerial team headed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's bureau chief, Dov Weisglass, is working on a proposal requesting American economic assistance that could top $10 billion.
The team includes representatives from the treasury, the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry.
A government source said the reason for the aid request stems from the United States' expected campaign against Iraq coupled with the American desire that Israel not interfere with Washington's plans or use IDF troops against Iraq.
Sources at the Prime Minister's Office said yesterday that American readiness to provide economic assistance has not been made in concrete terms.
However, a number of ideas have cropped up in Jerusalem over the type of aid Israel could use: cash, guarantees for low-interest bank loans from American banks, direct state-to-state loans from the U.S. treasury, and the conversion of some American defense aid into shekels.
Currently, Washington provides Israel $2.1 billion a year that must be spent in the United States on defense supplies. One proposal is for $2 billion to be converted to shekels and used to purchase defense equipment from Israeli manufacturers in the hope that it would invigorate the Israeli economy.
The final proposal will be worked out by the inter-ministerial committee and the White House.
Discussions about economic aid came up during the prime minister's recent trip to Washington, and, in particular, during talks between Weisglass and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
Weisglass said the aid was necessary to get the Israeli economy moving; U.S. President George W. Bush mentioned American confidence in Israel's economy during a White House press conference with Sharon after their meeting last week.
Other than the annual economic aid, Israel expects fulfillment of a July 2000 decision made by then-president Bill Clinton to then-premier Ehud Barak for a $800 million grant. Since then, the sum has dropped to $200 million, and discussions were frozen, for bureaucratic reasons, after Clinton left office, according to the Americans. But with help of pro-Israel congressmen, discussions are expected to resume at the beginning of the new year. | | | | Guest | | Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2002 1:41 am Post subject: $15 Billion "loan" |
| Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2002 1:37 am Post subject: $15 Billion "loan"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And let's be sure we understand the last $15 Billion "loan" at the time of
the last Iraqi war to resettle the Russian Jews, a majority of whom came to
America.
First Washington had to guarantee the loan (remember); this was so that the
loan could be borrowed from US pension funds (we weren't told this); now
each year Washington passes a resolution to pay Israeli indebtedness from
taxpayer monies. Thus first the US advanced the "loan" and second pays it
off to ourselves (which is kept secret in Washington). In effect, it was a
gift all along on top of the usual $5 or 6 Billion annually. God, what
sukkas Washington makes of US for their masters in Israel.
And now they would sacrifice millions of Americans for Israel rather than
join with the rest of the world in a just peace in the Middle East. All
loyalty to the people and the country is gone. This is treason, folks.
Boycott Zionism: NBC NEWS, NEWSWEEK, NY TIMES and keep Christman for
Children; for adults buy War Bonds. | | | | Guest | | Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2002 9:13 pm Post subject: Billions more to Israel but zero for US workers |
| Subj: Billions more to Israel but zero for US workers
Date: 11/23/02 8:11:52 PM Pacific Standard Time
See below Democrats are complaining that unemployment benefits are denied US workers, but they are joining in with the Republicans to give Israel more money - see also below: Complain to Congress. Whether they heed your call or not, at least we can make them uncomfortable.
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/DocView.asp?did=636993&fid=942
Israel submits $8-10b aid and guarantees request to US
Ministry of Finance director general Ohad Marani is in Washington to lobby
for the aid. Details of the discussions are being kept secret.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/11.24C.dash.pelo.lash.htm
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle
It Is Shameful For The House To Leave Town Without Helping Workers
Friday, 22 November, 2002
"This is a sad day for a lot of workers. Because of Republican inaction, nearly one million Americans will lose their unemployment benefits three days after Christmas. Without jobs, and without an extension of their unemployment insurance benefits, they are facing a grim holiday season.
"Last week, the Senate unanimously passed a three-month extension of the unemployment insurance program that President Bush signed in March. With a phone call to Speaker Hastert or Representative DeLay, President Bush could have insisted that House Republicans follow the Senateís lead, and provide this much needed help for these hard-hit workers.
"Unfortunately, instead of giving laid-off workers some hope and some help to get through the holiday season, Republican leaders have given them the cold shoulder.
"It is amazing to me that so many who discussed their concern about unemployment on the campaign trail are unwilling to act on that concern now. When the Senate reconvenes, we will continue our work to help those who have lost their jobs, and to strengthen our economy to create new ones."
t r u t h o u t | Statement
House Democratic Whip Nancy Pelosi
Pelosi Condemns House Republicans' Refusal Extend Unemployment Benefits
Friday, 22 November, 2002
Washington, D.C. - House Democratic Leader-Elect Nancy Pelosi denounced House Republicans' decision today to adjourn the 107th Congress without extending unemployment insurance for 800,000 jobless Americans whose benefits will run out three days after Christmas.
"This is perfect example of the difference between our parties. If the Democrats had been in charge, we would have passed this bill," Pelosi said. "As House Republicans rush home for the holidays, I hope they give some thought to those less fortunate families who will not have much to celebrate this year."
Despite repeated requests by House Democrats today, Republican Leadership refused to even bring to the House floor a bipartisan Senate bill to extend unemployment benefits through March.
In addition to helping workers, unemployment insurance provides a targeted economic stimulus by immediately increasing consumer spending in the hardest-hit areas, Pelosi noted. Boosting consumer spending quickly is one of the most effective ways to bring about an economic recovery.
More than 8 million workers are currently unemployed. The Republicans' refusal to act, means that 800,000 workers will lose their unemployment insurance on December 28 and an additional 90,000 workers per week will lose their benefits. | | | | Guest | | Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2002 10:51 am Post subject: U.S. Expected to Approve 14 Billion Aid Request |
| anybody else OUTRAGED? that fellow Americans were denied an extension of unemployment benefits which are about to expire prior to Christmas, Congress voted itself another $5000 pay increase, Bush is about to approve another tax break for the wealthiest ONE PERCENT.....and now this............!
mimi
U.S. expected to approve $14 billion aid request
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=%20234132&contrassID=2&subContrassID=2&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y&itemNo=234132
By Moti Bassok
Israel will today submit a request for $14 billion in economic aid to U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. President George Bush is expected to quickly approve the request - $4 billion in defense aid. and U.S. guarantees for $10 billion - with minor changes, Israeli sources said.
The sources said the Republican congressional majority would approve the aid within 3-6 months. After Finance Ministry director general Ohad Marani and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's bureau chief Dov Weisglass submit the request, it will be handled by both Israeli and U.S. officials who will determine the duration of the grant and guarantees, and various technical details. The guarantees will apparently be for five years but it is unclear how the defense aid will be laid out.
Sharon told Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz during a meeting eight days ago with Finance Minister Silvan Shalom, that as soon as the U.S. makes a positive decision on the defense grant, he will consent to some of Mofaz's requests for budget increases. The sources say the grant will allow the government to direct defense spending to growth oriented projects.
Some treasury officials are not pleased with the request for such high guarantees, fearing that some of the money will not be directed to growth projects.
However, sources at the prime minister's office say news of the aid will improve the country's international financial standing, and could encourage both local and foreign investors to reconsider Israel. The U.S. aid will also substantially influence the strategic situation in the Middle East.
Sharon first raised the question of aid in his Washington meeting with Bush in mid-October. The formal request was completed by Marani's staff in the past two weeks, with the explanation that Israel has increased military spending in the past two years because of the Palestinian uprising and the expected U.S. war with Iraq. Last week, Turkey and Jordan received generous American military aid of $2 billion to prepare for the possible war with Iraq.
The request for the guarantees - the option of getting improved loan terms from U.S. banks - is based on Israel's need to stabilize the economy and pull out of recession.
Last week Washington approved Israel's annual military aid of $2.16 billion for 2004, and is expected to approve its civil aid soon. | | | | Guest | | Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2002 9:17 pm Post subject: Fwd: US to approve $14 BILLION aid request to "guess wh |
| Fwd: US to approve $14 BILLION aid request to "guess where"?????
That really upsets and angers me. We are so willing to give over $14
billion to another country to aide it, while over 41 million Americans
have no health insurance? Disgusting. I suggest that everyone reads
this NY Times article that just came out today. This is how we should
be using the tax payers money.
Mary!
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/25/national/25INSU.html?ex=1039239282&ei=1&en=f4d6965e041c4e62
November 25, 2002
Problem of Lost Health Benefits Is Reaching Into the Middle Class
By JOHN M. BRODER
his article was reported by John M. Broder, Robert Pear and Milt Freudenheim and was written by Mr. Broder.
Diane MacPherson, of Lowell, Mass., lost her job at a relocation management company last November, and with it the health insurance for herself, her husband and their 4-year-old daughter. Her husband works in construction and does not have access to health care coverage at work.
Continuing her family health insurance under the federal Cobra program would have cost $931 a month, so the couple decided to insure only their daughter, at a cost of $270 a month. Two months ago, when Ms. MacPherson's unemployment compensation payments ran out, they dropped their health insurance altogether. Although her husband earns about $75,000 a year, construction work is seasonal and they could not be assured of enough income every month to pay for health insurance.
Then their daughter came down with strep throat. "That was rather humiliating, being in the doctor's office without insurance," Ms. MacPherson said. "You become very obvious to everyone."
The family represents a changing portrait of the 41 million Americans who do not have health insurance today. Once thought to be a problem chiefly of the poor and the unemployed, the health care crisis is spreading up the income ladder and deep into the ranks of those with full-time jobs.
According to recently released Census Bureau figures, 1.4 million Americans lost their health insurance last year, an increase largely attributed to the economic slowdown and resulting rise in unemployment. The largest group of the newly uninsured ? some 800,000 people ? had incomes in excess of $75,000. They either lost their jobs, or were priced out of the health care market by rapidly rising insurance premiums, or, like Ms. MacPherson, both.
While it is true that the number of uninsured people rises when unemployment goes up, it is also true that the rolls of the uninsured can expand even when joblessness is going down, as it did through most of the 1990's.
The numbers of uninsured during the last recession from 1990-92 jumped to 35.4 million from 32.9 million. But the number continued to rise even in the boom years of the mid- to late 1990's, reaching 40.7 million in 1998 before dipping slightly in 1999 and 2000.
Labor economists say that much of the job growth during the expansion of the 1990's came in small businesses and in service industries, low-wage, nonunion sectors that are much less likely to offer health insurance as a benefit to new workers. There was also a demographic bulge of young people and recent immigrants entering the work force during the decade, with many of them willing to take jobs that did not offer rich benefit packages.
The problem has long been acute among minorities, immigrants, part-time workers and employees in low-wage service jobs. What is different this time, analysts say, is that the problem is hitting middle-income and upper-income families harder because many of the job losses are in high-wage industries like technology and telecommunications.
Thirty million Americans in working families today ? 16 percent of all those in families headed by a worker ? lack health care coverage, according to a four-year tracking study by the Center for Studying Health System Change, a nonprofit research group financed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. An additional 16 million Americans ? mostly low-income workers ? are offered health insurance through their jobs but decline because they get health care from government programs or it is too expensive, the study found.
"The failure of the economic boom to expand employer-based coverage for working families significantly is ominous," the center said in a recent study. It found that the current slowdown and the rising cost of providing health care to employees produced a double whammy: fewer companies are now willing to offer their workers health care coverage, and those that do will demand that employees shoulder a far higher share of the cost.
Rising Concerns
Policy makers and health care analysts say the United States is again confronting a crisis in its medical delivery system.
"The number of uninsured will continue to grow as long as health insurance premiums rise more rapidly than earnings, as they have for a decade," said Drew E. Altman, president of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, which tracks health coverage trends.
"Losing health benefits is becoming a middle-class issue," Mr. Altman said. "If it had not been for expansions in the child health program and Medicaid, we would have 10 million more uninsured."
The growing number of uninsured and the rising cost of health insurance have stimulated Congressional interest on a scale not seen since 1993 and 1994, when President Bill Clinton tried to remake the health care system and guarantee coverage for all Americans.
The major proposals being debated now fall into two main categories. One approach, favored by Republicans and some Democrats, would provide tax breaks to help individuals, families and small businesses buy health insurance in the open market. The other, preferred by many Democrats, would expand eligibility for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program to include the parents of some children who are already eligible.
Either plan could have eased the situation of Brian and Anna Brooks, who run a small electrical contracting business in Westminster, Colo. They gave up their health insurance for themselves and their 8-year-old daughter this year to keep their business afloat.
They had already let go four of their five workers and wanted to maintain health coverage for their remaining employee.
Ms. Brooks said that they dropped their health coverage in July after the family premium jumped to $989 a month from $489 a month. Business was slow, and their previous income of more than $60,000 a year had fallen by half.
The effect has been immediate. Mr. Brooks, 50, has stopped taking Lipitor to control high cholesterol and has started taking over-the-counter herbal supplements. Ms. Brooks no longer takes Singulair for asthma and has adopted an exercise program intended to regulate her breathing. Ms. Brooks estimates they are saving $150 a month by not using prescription drugs.
"We changed our diets a lot in order to help the effectiveness of the supplements, and maybe that's a good thing," she said. They are setting aside $30 a month for their daughter's medical needs, but one ear infection would quickly empty the pot.
The federal Cobra program, enacted as part of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, is devised to provide a cushion for those who have recently lost their jobs. It allows workers to maintain their health care coverage for up to 18 months if they assume the full cost of the health coverage provided by their former employer. But many find the cost prohibitive, and only a quarter of workers say they would keep up their coverage under Cobra because of its high cost, according to a new survey from the Commonwealth Fund, a private research group.
Betting on Good Health
The high cost of Cobra coverage presents many people who have recently been laid off with a cruel choice. Audrey Robar of Milwaukee, 63, who lost her job at a private social services agency in September, decided to skip the $300 a month Cobra package in the expectation that she would soon find another job.
It was a gamble, and she lost.
"She was thinking she could get away with it," her daughter, Eva Robar-Orlich, said in an interview last week.
In the early hours of Oct. 23, Ms. Robar began to suffer chest pain and dizziness. She called her sister to ask whether she could seek medical care immediately and sign up for Cobra later. Her sister, Alden Egan, urged her to call an ambulance right away, but Ms. Robar set down the phone to look for the Cobra documents. Ms. Egan then heard over the open phone line the sound of her sister falling to the floor and quickly called 911. By the time paramedics arrived a few minutes later, Ms. Robar was dead of a heart attack.
"I think the fact that she hadn't paid for Cobra very well could have cost her her life," said Ms. Robar-Orlich. "She deliberated over calling an ambulance at a time when every minute was urgent."
Because the insurance crisis has hit high-income families and millions of middle-class Americans with jobs, advocates for the uninsured have expressed hope that Washington will finally resolve the problem. High-wage workers and small-business owners are a much more effective lobbying force than the unemployed, children and the poor.
Mary R. Grealy, president of the Healthcare Leadership Council, an industry coalition seeking coverage for the uninsured, said: "We are very optimistic. More and more people say that the uninsured will be a big issue in the next Congress."
"Lawmakers have seen the new face of the uninsured ? it's not a welfare population ? and will seek solutions for the employed uninsured," the many working families who lack insurance, Ms. Grealy said. "This is now an issue for Republicans," she added. "It's not just a one-party issue."
Ronald F. Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a consumer group, said that Republicans and Democrats could agree on proposals combining tax credits with some expansion of Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.
On the other hand, proposals to aid the uninsured could easily touch off a partisan brawl, in which lawmakers fight over the merits of government programs versus the private market.
President Bush has already proposed tax credits and is expected to offer more proposals to help the uninsured as part of his budget early next year.
In his first two budgets, Mr. Bush earmarked a large amount of money for health insurance tax credits: $89 billion over 10 years, for people who are not covered by an employer's plan and not eligible for public programs. The proposal languished in Congress, but Mr. Bush will have a greater incentive to push for action this year.
"The president wants to develop a record on health care to neutralize this issue going into the 2004 elections," Mr. Pollack said.
The issue is of particular concern to small-business owners, who say they would like to offer their employees health insurance but cannot keep up with the fast-rising premiums. They are a large and influential lobby and an important base for the Republican Party.
Martyn Hopper, the California state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said that 42 percent of the state organization's 37,000 member businesses did not offer their employees health care coverage. He blames rising premiums and the high cost of doing business in California, which has imposed a number of expensive mandates on employers. Big companies, Mr. Hopper said, can move operations to cheaper locations or offshore, but mom-and-pop businesses are forced to lay off workers or make their employees pay an ever-increasing share of health care costs.
Tom Lucas, who owns two plant nurseries outside Los Angeles, said that he provided health coverage to his 70 employees until the mid-1990's, when the cost became crushing. Mr. Lucas said that some of his workers have spouses with jobs that provided insurance, some drove to Mexico to seek cheap treatment and drugs, and some did without.
He said that health coverage was particularly expensive in California because the legislature had imposed a number of mandates on the policies that employers must offer, including coverage for mental illness, comprehensive cancer screening, substance abuse treatment and weight loss programs.
"Health insurance is a luxury I can't afford for my people," he said. "It's a great perk, but in an industry like my own, it's not reality. There's not enough dollars to go around."
Roadblocks to a Solution
While there is continuing public concern about health care and gathering sentiment in Washington to do something about it, a number of constraints are limiting the likelihood that the growth in the numbers of the uninsured will be reversed any time soon.
Growing federal and state budget deficits will make it difficult to find money to subsidize coverage for the uninsured. The president and members of both parties have promised prescription drug benefits to the elderly, who vote in large numbers, and fulfilling that commitment is a higher political priority for most lawmakers than addressing the problem of the uninsured.
In addition, doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers are demanding higher Medicare payments, which will eat up money that could be used to cover people with no insurance. Medical providers are much more effective lobbyists than are the uninsured.
A number of proposals on Capitol Hill would at least incrementally address the problem. One, sponsored by Senators Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, and Mary L. Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana, would provide tax credits for the health insurance expenses of individuals, families and small businesses; allow small businesses to take a tax deduction for the full cost of their premiums; and allow states to cover low-income parents and legal immigrants under Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, know as CHIP. The bill would also provide federal money to the states to establish insurance purchasing cooperatives for small businesses and high-risk pools for people who cannot get insurance in the private market because of chronic illnesses.
As Congress debates, however, employers and workers continue to struggle with higher costs and more difficult access to health care.
Mitch Flinchum, the controller at a highway paving company in Burlington, N.C., sees the problems from both ends ? as an executive in charge of benefits and as a consumer.
Mr. Flinchum pays more than 10 percent of his $65,000 annual salary for health insurance for his family, but he considers himself better off than most of his company's 350 workers. Only 119 of the employees accept the coverage, and two-thirds of those pay only for themselves and not their dependents. Mr. Flinchum says most of the workers who decline insurance do so because the premiums are costly and the coverage is so meager.
"When you look at your benefits, you've got massive deductibles, massive co-pays, and unless you have a heart attack or cancer, which would be devastating in itself, it's like you don't have any insurance," he said.
"I don't know where it stops," Mr. Flinchum added. "With a 20 percent increase each year, over time the only two people in this country who will be able to have health insurance are Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. No one else can afford it." | | | | Guest | | | | | ©2002-2009 WarWithoutEnd.co.uk |
