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Congressman Anh "Joseph" Cao

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:02:21 -0800

From the page: "onight, Congressman Anh �oeJoseph” Cao (LA-2) voted in favor of the comprehensive health reform bill, H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. Of his vote, Cao said: �oeTonight, I voted to keep taxpayer dollars from funding abortion and to deliver access to affordable health care to ..."

http://twitter.com/brianfalldincom

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:00:30 -0800

From the page: "Bio Change We Must Fight For"

WALZ TO VOTE FOR STABLE, AFFORDABLE, HIGH QUALITY CARE FOR MINNESOTA FAMILIES

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:53:26 -0800

From the page: "WALZ TO VOTE FOR STABLE, AFFORDABLE, HIGH QUALITY CARE FOR MINNESOTA FAMILIES
Says historic, fiscally responsible legislation is a win for southern Minnesota families, businesses, doctors, and hospitals

For Immediate Release
November 7, 2009

Contact: Meredith Salsbery
507-388-2149

WASHINGTON D.C. �" Rep. Tim Walz announced today that he will vote in favor of health care reform that ensures Minnesota families have access to stable, affordable health insurance. H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, includes a Mayo-backed provision that rewards Minnesota doctors and hospitals for innovation, results, and quality care and provides businesses with an avenue for providing affordable insurance that ensures a healthier workforce.

�oeI hope tomorrow will be a victory for Minnesota families who will finally have stable, affordable coverage they can count on,” Walz said. �oeParents will not only have more affordable and better quality coverage for their kids, but thanks to these reforms, they�ll now be able to help their children get a start in the world by keeping them on the family insurance plan as long as their 27th birthday. In this economy, that�s a big deal for a young person who is fighting for their first job or to pay for college.”

Walz continued, �oeI�m voting for this bill because it solves two long-standing problems with how Medicare pays Minnesota doctors and hospitals. The first change ends the fee-for-service payment model in Medicare that Mayo and other experts have said perversely encourages hospitals to perform unnecessary procedures and tests. It instead creates a new pay-for-results method that will be based upon data and developed by the experts at the non-partisan Institute of Medicine. This Mayo-backed change is patient-centered and will reward innovation, results and quality care. The second change corrects the bone-headed fact that Medicare historically under-pays Minnesota doctors and hospitals simply because of geography, -- simply because of where we live. This will help deliver better care for our seniors.”

Over the past several months, Rep. Walz has been an active member of the House �oeQuality Care Coalition” which is comprised of House members advocating for reform of the Medicare payment system so that it would pay for results and reward and incentivize �oehigh-quality, low cost care”. In October, Walz announced that the coalition had been able to secure a deal with House Leadership to include these reforms in the overall health reform bill.

The deal requires the independent Institute of Medicine (IOM) to recommend and then the Secretary of Health and Human Services to implement two fixes for health care providers in the Medicare reimbursement system:
The geographic disparities fix: addresses geographic disparities in the Medicare reimbursement formula which cause some doctors to receive higher reimbursements for Medicare patients strictly because of location.

The pay for results fix: it makes recommendations to reform Medicare to pay doctors and hospitals based on their success in making patients well, rather than on the quantity of tests, office visits and other services they provide. This is essential to cut costs and because Medicare will incentivize doctors to provide these higher quality, lower cost services it will helps seniors get well faster and stay well longer. The deal implements the findings of this IOM review through an automatic process unless a supermajority of the Congress moves to block implementation. There is immense political pressure from Members whose states benefit from these inequities to prevent these changes. This deal makes the changes data-driven and ensures that a few powerful members can�t block needed reform without the consent of two thirds of their colleagues.

Last year, the world-renowned Mayo Clinic lost $840 Million by serving Medicare patients because of this broken reimbursement formula. At the same time, as much as 30% of health care costs are wasteful and do not make a difference in the health of patients.

This past June, Congressman Walz and the rest of the Minnesota delegation sent a joint letter to President Obama that highlighted how Minnesota�s hospitals, doctors and patients are being punished for delivering low-cost, high-quality care in our current Medicare reimbursement system and asked the President to help fix this inequity in any health reform legislation.

HR 3962 also makes unprecedented reforms to the health insurance industry in order to expand protections for consumers and employers. It provides overdue transparency and accountability by ending health insurance companies� blanket exemption from anti-trust laws. Firms will no longer be shielded from liability for price-fixing or monopolizing and will have to follow new transparency requirements when increasing premiums.

It goes further to protect consumers by maki

Paul Thissen for Governor 2010 & Karen's Corner

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:33:57 -0800

From the page: "e St. Paul nonprofit Urban Embassy added great fun to the campaign this weekend when it required each candidate to sing a karoake song before addressing the audience at its annual Candidate Karaoke event.

First, it was for a great cause: Urban Embassy aims to educate and mobilize minority and under-represented voters through community meetings and targeted legislation, and has done a lot of important work since its founding.
Second, it was great to have the candidates relax and have some fun, and vary from the typical stump speech.

Even though Paul has a beautiful voice and was the lead role in some of his high school musicals, he still needs to be prodded to sing publicly, so I was thrilled to be able to make him sing this weekend! We sang a duet version of Prince�s �oe1999″ �" one of our favorite artists, and a Minnesotan to boot, of course!"

Outposts from The Small of America: Rain and Dust - Bluestem Prairie

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:21:07 -0800

From the page: "It�s that time of year when wet is raw and the wind chokes on chaff. Seems one day it�s been raining for a week. Then by sunset the next afternoon, the west is orange and purple and beautiful as a childhood memory of a rusty dust cloud bigger than a combine augering beans into a red wagon."

Tinuccis Catering

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:19:44 -0800

From the page: "Tinucci's Catering
651- 459-3211
(Menus Below)

Thank you for considering Tinucci's to help make your party a success. We've included what our customers have told us are our most popular catered menus. If you don't see what you need, please do not hesitate for special menus. Buon Appetito!

Whether a meeting, party, graduation or wedding, we provide you with delicious, beautiful quality Tinucci's cuisine. For your convenience, we can deliver right to you*. We can also have your order prepared for you to pick up*. Your selections will be ready to serve, or to reheat with simple instructions.

All dinners include high quality 10" divided plastic plates, forks, knives, and napkins. We also provide service spoons, tongs and a table cover for your buffet table. Prices are subject to sales tax and appropriate delivery charge.

*Minumum 25 People for Delivery • Minimun 15 People for Pick-Up "

Support the Affordable Health Care for America Act | American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:01:04 -0800

From the page: "The Affordable Health Care for America Act deserves the support of every member of Congress. It provides a strong public option, protects working Americans from a tax on their health benefits and requires large employers to provide insurance for their employees.

This is what real reform looks like, so let's make it happen now!

Please enter your phone number below to be connected to your Member of Congress. Demand that they stand for real reform and the middle class, not insurance company greed, by voting YES on H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. You will receive a phone call with some pointers before being connected."

Support the Affordable Health Care for America Act | American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:26:00 -0800

From the page: "he Affordable Health Care for America Act deserves the support of every member of Congress. It provides a strong public option, protects working Americans from a tax on their health benefits and requires large employers to provide insurance for their employees.

This is what real reform looks like, so let's make it happen now!

Please enter your phone number below to be connected to your Member of Congress. Demand that they stand for real reform and the middle class, not insurance company greed, by voting YES on H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. You will receive a phone call with some pointers before being connected."

Support the Affordable Health Care for America Act | American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:18:17 -0800

From the page: "Affordable Health Care for America Act deserves the support of every member of Congress. It provides a strong public option, protects working Americans from a tax on their health benefits and requires large employers to provide insurance for their employees.

This is what real reform looks like, so let's make it happen now!

Please enter your phone number below to be connected to your Member of Congress. Demand that they stand for real reform and the middle class, not insurance company greed, by voting YES on H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. You will receive a phone call with some pointers before being connected."

Fort Hood Heroine Proves Women Should Be Allowed In Combat | Just JudyJudyJudy

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:08:32 -0800

From the page: "At the press conference that followed Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan�s shooting spree at Fort Hood Lt. Gen. Robert Cone gave the media this information; there were 12 dead, 31 wounded, one shooter, two guns, Hasan was shot down at the scene but was not dead (as was previously reported), and the person that shot him was also wounded but not dead either. And she was a woman.

The media instantly wanted to know more about this �oehero”. We know that she is a civilian police officer and was one of the �oefirst responders” to the scene. She shot Hasan four times but was also wounded herself in gun battle, her condition is now stable. The point is, she is the one who stopped Hasan by shooting him, she nearly died, and if she had tried to enlist to fight in the front lines of the Army she would have been turned down."