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8/12/03
E
Messenger
The
Electronic Newsletter of the
Florida
AFL-CIO
New
Members according to the AFL-CIO Work in Progress
This week's WIP: 7,230
Year to date: 99,356
Retirees
turn-out to talk to Harris about prescription drugs…only she didn’t
want to listen.The
Florida AFL-CIO worked with a coalition of organizations to organize
seniors and retirees to attend a recent town hall meeting held by
Congresswoman Katherine Harris. Harris
has supported the President’s push to privatize Medicare and his
severely flawed prescription drug plan and we turned up the heat to let
her know that most people who rely on Medicare disagree.
Her are some clips fro0m the event.
MEDICARE
ACTIVISTS CONFRONT HARRIS--At an Aug. 7 townhall meeting in
Bradenton
,
Fla.
, activists with the Florida
Alliance for Retired Americans, SEIU and the Association of Community
Organizations for Reform Now booed U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.)
after she spoke for half the allotted hour on the Medicare prescription
drug benefit and then briefly answered questions. Citing an ethics law
prohibiting the distribution of political information during a town hall
meeting, Harris staffers confiscated the activists' fliers demanding
Harris support a meaningful Medicare drug benefit. During the meeting, the
Harris staff passed out Harris' literature instead. The
Bradenton
event was one of a series of
coast-to-coast rallies and other actions in which
Alliance
members and allies are demanding
a meaningful Medicare benefit, not those passed by the
U.S.
House and Senate. To send a
message to your senators demanding a real Medicare drug benefit, visit www.unionvoice.org/campaign/j24medicarerx
.
Harris'
brevity angers residents
Herald
Staff Writer
8/9/03
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/6484357.htm
Rep.
Harris Booed
Staffers Confiscate Retiree Fliers
Tallahassee
Democrat
8/12/03
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/local/6493063.htm
Failure
to Communicate
Bradenton
Herald
8/10/03
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/opinion/6499071.htm
Angry
Letter Writers
Bradenton
Herald
8/10/03
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/6499069.htm
BRADENTON
-- People peppered Katherine Harris with
questions touching on everything from war with
Iraq
to cancer research during the Republican
congresswoman's community meeting Thursday night.
Date:
08/08/03
Med
Mal debate nearing a close….SO WHAT!
The Florida Senate spent a great of time using sworn testimony to prove,
using real evidence, that the only medical crisis in
Florida
is greedy insurance
companies and a serious conflict of interest within the Florida Medical
Association. So what are they
preparing to do? Give in to
those same insurance companies and their golden boy, Jeb Bush.
Should we be excited by a compromise fix to a crisis we now know
didn’t exist?
A
bad deal
(
08/11/2003
© Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
Only a few
questions remain in
Florida
's raging medical
malpractice debate. The first is whether the state's 40 senators and a
sizable minority of House members will be able to vote for this package
without feeling ill. The second is what exactly they will be voting on.
Gov. Jeb Bush has ca...
Politics
possibly part of malpractice accord
(08/11/2003 © Bradenton
Herald)
The end to
fighting among Republicans over the medical malpractice insurance crisis
and Gov. Jeb Bush's willingness to accept a proposal significantly
different from his own may have been pushed along by something other than
pressure from doctors and lawyers. There was a growing feeling that divi...
Winners,
Losers of Malpractice Issue Emerge as Dust Settles
(08/11/2003 © Lakeland
Ledger)
The Florida
Legislature spent months reaching an agreement on putting caps on pain and
suffering awards in medical malpractice suits. Now it's up to the pundits
to spend months trying to figure out the winners and losers in the
political struggle. No Republican lawmaker wants to say on the rec...
Editorial:
Thank you, senators
(
08/11/2003
© Stuart
News)
All Floridians owe
the Florida Senate a vote of gratitude for sticking to its guns in the
debate over medical malpractice insurance. Senators faced the ire of Gov.
Jeb Bush and ridicule from House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, but they insisted
on - and got - a compromise that may mean a reduction in medica...
Education
Check out the irony. The
woman who led Jeb’s opposition to the creation of the higher- ed Board
of Governors is now in charge of the Board of Governors.
Slowly
but surely, universities board assumes governance role
(
08/11/2003
© St.
Petersburg Times)
One of the first
big 'reforms' by Gov. Jeb Bush and the Legislature was to abolish the old
Board of Regents, which ran the state university system. Each university
would get its own local board, handpicked by Bush. The voters of
Florida
rejected this scheme.
Last November, they overwhelmingly vo...
Election
2004
Labor's
challenge
The
Boston
Globe
8/9/03
How
the 'Radicals' Can Save the Democrats
The
New York
Times
8/11/03
Dean's
unseemly stumble
The
Boston
Globe
8/9/03
Ideas?
Debate? In Politics?
The LA Times
8/10/03
Teamsters
Endorse Gephardt
The
Washington
Post
8/9/03
Teamsters
go for Gephardt, but many Michigan unions remain uncommitted
Detroit
News
8/9/03
Hey,
Iowa, meet the Grahams
(08/11/2003 © St.
Petersburg Times)
CHARITON, Iowa -
Only one presidential candidate looking for votes in Iowa waxes nostalgic
about Tiny Two, a prize-winning heifer from his 4-H days. Only one
enthusiastically leads three generations of family members in a corny
campaign song. 'From
Atlantic
to Pacific, we all say,
He's terrifi...
President
Bush
Report
on Medicare Legislation Raises Concern on Costs
A report raises questions about the ability of private
health plans to protect the elderly from the high costs of medical care
under the legislation proposed by Congress.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/11/business/11MEDI.html?th
The
Art of the False Impression
Some of the points Al Gore is raising, especially with
regard to President Bush's credibility regarding the war,
deserve much closer attention.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/11/opinion/11HERB.html?th
Showdown
vote nears on overtime pay
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
8/10/03
Those crazy Californians
In Full Field, It's All About Schwarzenegger
Nearly 160 people have entered the three-ring circus of
California
politics, but
the talk of the town was of just one candidate, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/11/national/11RECA.html?th
Verizon
struggle drags on
STOP
CORPORATE GREED AT VERIZON--In rallies across the nation, union members
are showing support for Verizon Communications workers as the
company demands the right to move jobs overseas and force employees to pay
more for health insurance. Verizon is the third largest telecom company in
the world with profits of $4.1 billion last year. For more information and
to send a letter to Verizon demanding a fair contract that protects
hometown jobs, visit www.unionvoice.org/campaign/hometown_jobs
. Contract negotiations will resume in
Washington
,
D.C.
, and
New York City
on Aug. 12
between Verizon and two unions, the Communications Workers of America and
the Electrical Workers. The 80,000 workers in 12 states are still on the
job beyond an Aug. 2 strike deadline. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) is
asking senators in the Verizon-East region to sign a letter to company CEO
Ivan Seidenberg urging progress on the negotiations. If you live in the
Verizon-East region, which includes
New England
, urge your
senators to sign the letter by visiting www.unionvoice.org/campaign/vz_senators
After
a Break, Verizon Talks to Split in Two
The
New York
Times
8/9/03
Verizon,
Union Talks Set to Resume
AP
8/11/03
Other
labor news
Labor:
Workers earn solid benefits that bolster middle class
Detroit
News
8/10/03
If you have
suggestions on how we may improve this online publication or have
information you would like to see posted please contact our communications
director at (850) 224 – 6926 or at rtemplin@flaflcio.org.
If you would
not like to receive future copies of this newsletter or would like to be
added to our subscription list please let us know at cbell@flaflcio.org.
Rich
Templin
Communications Director
Florida
AFL-CIO
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