Not Under the Bus: Groups expresses info and concerns about women and health care reform via video

About this video and group: NotUnderTheBus.com is a comprehensive landing place for anyone looking to know the latest news in the health care debate. The coming weeks are going to be crucial for activists to make sure their concerns are heard about this bill as it gets voted on in the Senate and moved back to the House for reconciliation. The restrictions on abortion in the bill are a severe threat to women’s choice. 

We will continue to update you on the latest from NotUnderTheBus.com over the next two weeks so you can share with your readers when appropriate. While the short term goal is to keep abortion restrictions out of health care reform, NotUndertheBus.com is a long term project that will be working to move the conversation about health care back to the original problem – the Hyde Amendment. 

We’re on Twitter @NotUnderTheBus and Facebook.com/NotUndertheBus. The hashtag we’ve been promoting is #underthebus.

The gentlemom from New York: Sen Gillibrand not actually Sen Schumer's Mommy Figure

The Washington Post recently ran an excellent article about "the gentlemom" from New York, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). I'm all for highlighting how moms Can Do, Will Do, and Have Done in order to better promote cultural understanding that women are capable and successful, even after having children.

As a professional, woman, and mom, I know that it's fairly impossible to take off the mom hat. Nine-point-nine-and-three-quarters out of ten times, this is a bonus. The skills I've built as a mom have improved my organization, efficiency, and problem-solving, as well as my ability to positively motivate, and increased communication skills. Many employers are wise enough to realize that women who are moms do excel at skills honed through parenting.

However, that never, ever is a good reason to expect a woman to assume a mother figure position over her colleagues and rebuke their behavior. And yet, that's exactly what the National Republican Senatorial Committee's (NRSC) Brian Walsh did to Senator Gillibrand this week. In an article at NYDailyNews.com, Elizabeth Benjamin wrote, "The NRSC is slamming Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand for failing to publicly rebuke her political mentor and biggest champion, Sen. Chuck Schumer, for referring to a female flight attendant as a "bitch."

Dear Nate Silver...

Nate Silver, over at FiveThirtyEight.com has 20 questions for people who are coming out against the health care reform bill currently pending before the Senate.

Over the medium term, how many other opportunities will exist to provide in excess of $100 billion per year in public subsidies to poor and sick people?

Subsides don’t make coverage affordable nor do they guarantee access. The penalty for noncompliance – that is, for not obtaining coverage – in some versions of the bill have been significantly lower than the cost to actually buying a plan. Baucus tried to get round this by including a “young invincible” plan since it is critically important for risk-spreading that young healthy people become part of large insurance pools. The “young invincible” plan morphed into the “catastrophic plan” (Section 1302(e) in the Senate bill) and would be available to those aged 30 or younger. Nevermind that this is when preventive care is most important and this plan limits it to three visits.

And furthermore: Coverage does not equal access. Opening Medicaid up to poor people someplace around 150% of the federal poverty line does not mean that they suddenly will have good health care. Will they be protected from catastrophic injury? Yes. Will they be able to find a dentist, psychiatrist or other health care provider in a timely fashion? Doubtful. Look at the story of Deamonte Driver and remember that Maryland is a population-dense state with loads of medical providers and yet a 12-year-old boy died for want of dentist.

2. Would a bill that contained $50 billion in additional subsidies for people making less than 250% of poverty be acceptable?

At this point, real health reform would be acceptable. The federal poverty measure is a joke. It hasn’t been retooled in decades and $55,125 for a family of four isn’t a lot of money, particularly when you consider that under some provisions in the bill, a family could be stuck paying 3:1 for older members, 1.5:1 for tobacco users, etc. And the subsidies would reduce the cost of insurance to 2% of income for those at 100% of the FPL but could be as much as 9.8% of income for those at 400% of the FPL.

And the deductible for small employer plans could be as much as $4000 (Sec. 1302(2) of the Senate bill). That’s almost 10% of the above family’s income.

PunditMom: One Step Closer to World Domination

Have you checked out Rick Sanchez's lists on Twitter?  CNN is calling it "Rick's List" now.  Well, Joanne Bamberger, our own Pundit Mom, made Rick's Afghanistan list.

And there she is, catty corner from John McCain, in the top row, bright, smiling and looking like the savvy political blogger she is.  Go, Joanne!  First, CNN, next the world.

Sarah Palin: Going Rogue All the Way to the White House?

Sarah Palin in 2012? Some are chuckling, but they might want to rethink their take on the first woman on a GOP presidential ticket.

Conservative pundit David Brooks laughed out loud at the suggestion, calling her a "joke". Her former running mate John McCain called her "irrelevant."  Others point to 2008 wannabes Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee as more qualified and doing better in polls than Palin when people talk about GOP Presidential hopefuls. Of course, most thought that quitting her day job as Alaska Governor was the death knell for her political career, but I think this is just the beginning of Palin's national political career. After all, she was just on Oprah!

Seriously, as I have to remind some who've accused me of being a closet Republican, I'm no political fan of Palin. But when people dismiss her out of hand, I keep thinking one thing -- remember the last politician we scoffed at as not even close to being competent enough for the White House?

My expulsion from Kindergarten carries lessons today

When I was 5 years old, I was expelled from Kindergarten. Twice. I don't remember what the first expulsion was for, but the second one remains a family legend to this day. Because truly, not everyone gets kicked out of Kindergarten. Twice.

There's a child's rhyme that has hand gestures. The rhyme goes like this:

Here's the church (hands locked together)
Here's the steeple (index fingers up, the rest of the fingers still locked)
Open the door (thumbs out)
And out come the people! (flip locked hands so fingers and palms up)

Cute, huh? Only, I'd been taught the rhyme with a bit of a twist. My version went like this, and I shared it with my entire class. From the front of the room.

Here's the church
Here's the steeple
Open the door
And out come the HYPOCRITES!

Did I mention that my mom was paying an enormous amount of money to send me to a private church school? They might have forgiven me. They might have patted me on the head and told me to nevernevernever say that rhyme that way ever again.

But instead, they asked me if I knew what a hypocrite was. The thing is, I did.

My mother's hippie-radical brother had come down from UC Berkeley and taught me the full meaning of the rhyme and the word. So I dutifully and truthfully answered the teacher's question.

"A hypocrite is someone who says one thing and does another," I replied.

And just like that, I was expelled. I think I was probably expelled for life, but my mother managed to wring just enough sympathy out of the teachers and the headmaster to allow me to finish out the year, with the agreement that at the end of said year, I should find another school to attend. Really, that outcome was just fine with me...it was probably the most miserable introduction to education any kid could have. I was glad to let the door to that school hit my butt on the way out. So why am I spilling my dirtiest secrets here on MOMocrats?

Civil and Human Rights Given, Then Taken Away in the Legislature: Marriage Equality Loses in NY Senate

Maine's depressing vote in November, which took away marriage equality rights previously granted. A victory in May, but this past week, NY's equally depressing vote overturning marriage equality in the NY State Senate. It's getting to the point where I won't be surprised if we vote to reinstate slavery or repeal women's suffrage soon.

Apparently, human and civil rights which I had mistakenly thought were protected by our Constitution are not at all covered by it. And activists leading the fight for marriage equality have not been able to counter influence from churches and other religious institutions mobilizing congregants against same-sex marriage.

Mikulski, Snowe, Collins, Vitter bring victory for women's health in Senate bill; ensure preventive care

Straight from Kaiser Health News today (bolding mine, to highlight crucial points):

"Senate Bill Moves Forward, Amendment Ensures Coverage For Women's Preventive Care"

Los Angeles Times: "After days of delay, Senate Democrats pushed ahead Thursday with their drive to pass a healthcare bill by Christmas, approving the first amendment to their giant bill: a measure to expand women's access to preventive services such as mammograms." The language, proposed by Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), passed by a 61-39 vote. It would "authorize the federal government to require insurers to cover women's preventive care and screenings without co-payments. The amendment is expected to cost about $940 million over 10 years. It had the backing of numerous groups representing patients, doctors and women"  (Levey, 12/4).

The New York Times noted that three Republicans joined "56 Democrats and the two independents in favor. The Republican senators voting in favor were the two women from Maine, Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins, and David Vitter of Louisiana. Among Democratic senators, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Ben Nelson of Nebraska opposed the proposal. (Herszenhorn and Pear, 12/3).

McClatchy:  The Senate-approved measure "would make it easier for women to get medical screenings aimed at detecting a variety of diseases, such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes."  The debate surrounding this amendment "was an oasis of comity in the four-day-old health care debate" (Lightman, 12/3). 

CNN: "The proposal to ensure access to mammograms was prompted by the recent uproar over a controversial government task force recommendation that some women should not receive routine mammograms to detect breast cancer. Democrats wanted to assure women that health care reform wouldn't lead to a rationing of such care; Republicans wanted to make the point that it would" (Barrett, 12/3).

Kaiser Health News: "in essence, the amendment says 'disregard the current findings of this preventative services task force' .... And that women must have access to these services and they wouldn't have to pay out of pocket for them" (Carey, 12/3).

Reuters: "On a 59-41 vote, the Senate rejected a related Republican amendment on screenings that would have ensured the task force recommendations could be ignored. Democrats said it was 'too tepid' and would not remove cost barriers to the services" (Whitesides, 12/3). 

The Associated Press/CBS News: "Mikulski said her amendment would guarantee that decisions are left to women and their doctors, not placed in the hands of government bureaucrats or medical statisticians. She accepted a modification to her amendment by Vitter that would specifically prevent the controversial recommendations on mammograms from restricting coverage of the test" (12/3).

The Baltimore Sun: "Mikulski said afterward that she would press to have her amendment included in a final health care compromise, which would be crafted some time early next year if the Senate approves the sweeping legislation it took up this week. The House version does not include a similar provision" (West, 12/4).

This is part of Kaiser Health News' Daily Report - a summary of health policy coverage from more than 300 news organizations. The full summary of the day's news can be found here and you can sign up for e-mail subscriptions to the Daily Report here. In addition, our staff of reporters and correspondents file original stories each day, which you can find on our home page.

The Season of Giving

A terrific blogger, Alias Mother, is doing a blog-link-y thing where she's writing about her favorite charities and encouraging readers to do the same.

To that end, a couple of MOMocrats will be posting about our favorites charities - ones that help women and their families - in the coming weeks.

APOPO - HeroRat
Apopo was founded in the 1990s and it works with rats. Special rats. Rats that detect land mines. Following the long civil war, many areas of Mozambique were virtually uninhabitable due to heavy mining -- children cannot play in open areas for fear they will lose a limb or worse.

The rats find the landmines (they find scent from the TNT) but aren't heavy enough to set off the mine. The mine then can be removed or detonated. And, just in case you think this sounds...odd...keep in mind that the rats passed official licensing tests according to IMAS standards under supervision of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).

You can watch a great video about the rats from PBS/Frontline here

UNIJECT
PATH, a non-profit with offices in Seattle and DC/MD, is devoted to improving the lives of women worldwide. To that end, they created Uniject.

Uniject can be used my minimally-trained people to deliver vaccines (Hep B, mostly) and drugs to prevent postpartum hemorrhage. It is single use, so helps lessen the worry about proper sterilization and transmission of HIV/AIDS.

Again, a great video is here.

My husband and I are tremendously lucky that our daughter will never have to run a gauntlet of land mines to attend school. And while childbirth carries risk, the likelihood that I or any woman in the first world would die from postpartum hemorrhage is infinitesimal compared to women in the developing world. And we won't lose our daughter to neonatal tetanus, a major killer in areas without access to vaccines.