Category: Economy

Health Care Denied

11/4/2015

[the following is an op/ed letter submitted by Wilkes County Democrats Chairman, Larry Pendry to The Wilkes Journal Patriot on 11/4/2015.]

As we enter into the 90-day Open Season period for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, I am reminded that Virginia Foxx warned us almost 6 years ago that our seniors would be subject to “death panels” under this law.

How ironic that part of her prediction may come true for some of the estimated 2800 citizens living here in Wilkes County that have no health insurance. The North Carolina General Assembly failed to expand Medicaid and put not only low income seniors, but all of these lives at a greater risk of some catastrophic illness or death.

Both Senator Randleman and Representative Elmore have previously voted against expanding health care for the less fortunate leaving all of us to pick up the higher costs. Predictably, HB 330 legislation to expand health insurance was pushed to committee this session and Senator Randleman voted in favor of HB 372 that privatizes Medicaid so that corporations can get their cut off the top. According to the General Assembly website, Representative Elmore had an excused absence on 9.22.15 when HB 372 was passed. Whatever happened to the “compassionate conservatives”?

And if our representatives do not care about the health of low income citizens, do they not care about the health of the Wilkes Regional Medical Center? Rural hospitals in general have big financial problems, and it would be a great help to our Hospital if every last one of those folks who come into the emergency room had some kind of health insurance to pay the Hospital.

~ Larry Pendry
North Wilkesboro, NC

7 Comments

Shifting The Burden

9/29/2015

2 Comments

*clap,clap,clap* Way to go guys! This budget really works out for guys exactly like us!! *clap,clap,clap*

In a new opinion piece in the Raleigh News & Observer by Gene Nichol, he points out how the North Carolina's income tax rate decline actually continues to squeeze lower income families. Small cuts to their income taxes will be quickly gobbled up by increases in taxes on repairs for automobiles and appliances. It makes no sense.

"The governor and the General Assembly just lowered, yet again, the state’s income tax rate. To help pay for it, they enacted a new sales tax on car and appliance repairs. The move continues an apparently defining project of shifting the tax burden from the wealthiest North Carolinians to the poorest."

Recently, our refrigerator died. It was a slow death, first the fridge went,...then the freezer. We couldn't afford a new fridge. We simply couldn't. So we had to get it repaired. So what makes our lawmakers think that if you can't afford a new fridge, you can afford higher taxes on getting your old one repaired? It makes no sense. I'd like to see our lawmakers go 3 weeks using ice and a cooler waiting for a part and hoping that you could afford it when it arrived.

It's as if our lawmakers have no contact with their actual constituents - you know, the ones that don't donate to their campaigns. Transportation is a key to life in our many rural communities without public transit systems. It means the difference between having a job and not having a job to many. Repairs to cars are not only necessary, but vital to entire households.

The wealthy not only have newer cars which need fewer repairs, but they can easily get loaner cars, may have multiple cars in their household, can even RENT cars to use if theirs is in the shop. But for those that are struggling, car repairs are a huge burden in keeping their older cars running. I've known many people that end up bartering with mechanics because they already struggle to make ends meet, and their car is essential to holding a job. Raising the financial burden on those already burdened is not a solution.

But that is precisely what our General Assembly chose to do. They blame the poor for being poor; for not being as smart as they are; for ultimately being failed millionaires. To empathize with the poor and needy means you have to accept that there may even be other paths to a happy life,...one that *what?* may not revolve around money or power. Our legislators need to simply stop making legislation that creates crisis after crisis in lives that they can't possibly relate to.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article36473067.html#storylink=cpy

2 Comments

5 "Known UnKnowns" To Predict The 2016 Election

9/17/2015

1 Comment

Marc Ambinder at the website Five Thirty-Eight (statistician wunderkind Nate Silver's website he founded and edits) wrote a great article about the factors that have historically gone into predicting the winner of the Presidential Election. I urge you all to read the complete article HERE:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/five-things-you-need-to-know-before-predicting-the-2016-election/

Ambinder points out 5 key "known unknowns" that contribute to the general election. These are items that need to be evaluated carefully to see how people are going to vote. With the undecided and unaffiliated voting segment larger than ever before, we know they are the ones that ultimately decide elections. A look at these issues may indicate which way the swing voter will swing:

1. How’s the economy really doing?
2. Is the economy or foreign affairs the voters main concern?
3. Can the Democratic nominee distinguish their base from that of Obama?
4. Who's constituency is more fired up?
5. And who is perceived as the winner & frontrunner?

Ambinder makes some really key points in looking at each of these 5 issues, and as Democrats we can see where we can make a real difference in focusing on the topics and staying enthusiastic, strong, and on topic. Additionally, he makes the point about single-women households being a HUGE factor in swing states like North Carolina.

What this article shows most is that ultimately, at the end of the day,...voters really don't care about the sensationalistic hot-button type of issues. It's all about these 5 "known unknowns" that make a difference in presidential campaigns. How will our party address them and how will we as party members support them and communicate them to our neighbors?

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Health Care Denied

Shifting The Burden

5 "Known UnKnowns" To Predict The 2016 Election

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