Because People Matter

Stop the Canal - comment on SF Chronicle editorial

August 30 S.F. Chronicle editorial: A $54 billion water bill:
My Letter in Response

By DAN BACHER, Sacramento

It is absurd for the state to authorize a water project that could cost up to $54 billion (editorial, August 30) at a time when our state parks, teachers and childrens’ health care are in great jeopardy because of budget cuts.

I find it appalling that Senator Joe Simitian and Assemblyman Jared Huffman are sponsoring legislation that serves as a road map to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's peripheral canal. This proposed government boondoggle wouldn't create any new water - it would only take water from senior water rights holders to be delivered to junior water rights holders on the San Joaquin Valley's west side.

In spite of the Governor’s claim that the canal will result in “ecosystem restoration," this dangerous bill package will only exacerbate the unprecedented collapse of Central

Save the Delta! Stop the Peripheral Canal

by Ellen Schwartz, with material from Restore The Delta.

What can we do to stop the Peripheral Canal?

 There are two things. One is, letters to the editor of the Sacramento Bee or Sacramento News & Review (email sactoletters@newsreview.com ).  See below for tips on writing a letter.
 
Second, and urgent, we need to flood Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg’s office with calls, letters, faxes, and everything we can do

A Migration Metaphor...We Are In This Boat Together

by Evan Jones 

     We are all passengers on the “Titanic,” our Earth; migration is a wind storm buffeting the ship; border control is an umbrella.  We quickly discover that...

1. Wind is not the problem; let it blow!  Of 1.3 billion potential immigrants worldwide, fewer than 0.10% actually settle in  the US each year, even with our virtually non-existent border control.  We could save ourselves $8 billion/year in wasted INS costs, by recognizing what now exists; open borders!    National borders are becoming archaic in our time; witness  those of the European Union. 

Medicare for all

By Duane Campell

The right-wing rage fueling the disruption at some of this month’s congressional health-care town hall meetings fascinates the media but doesn’t address why health care reform is needed now.

I support Medicare for everyone.  I am 68.  I have had Medicare for 3 years. Prior to Medicare, I had Kaiser.  I and my employer paid for Kaiser care.

Now, I, and the Medicare system pay for my Kaiser Advantage system using Medicare.  There has been no noticeable to me difference in the care, only a difference in billing for drugs.  I get good care. We should all get good care.

Greening Affordable Housing

Because it just makes sense

By Meg Johnson

In 2002, when the nonprofit Sacramento Mutual Housing Association (SMHA) was completing construction of Victory Townhomes in North Sacramento, people would often stop their cars to inquire as to the cost of the homes, assuming the attractive buildings were market-rate condominiums. They were further intrigued with the solar panels on each townhome. Most were shocked to learn that the housing would be for rent, and income restrictions would limit occupancy to very low income families.

Urban Farmstands

Bringing fresh produce to low income residents

By Rachel Iskow

Cecilia’s mom lives in a Sacramento inner-city neighborhood lacking a major grocery store. She can’t afford a car, and many months, she lacks the money for a bus pass to get her to a retail center in another neighborhood where produce is sold. The local mom and pop stores a couple of blocks away from her apartment carry bananas, mostly aging, a few apples, and perhaps wilting lettuce—this is on a good day. The cost of this produce in that small shop is double the price found in conventional grocery stores.

Editorial: It's Not That Easy Being Green

How People Matter

By Muriel Strand, Co-Coordinating Editor for this issue

As I write my first BPM editorial, my mind wanders back to when I helped start the Sacramento Greens, before the Green Party, when we met in Dale Crandall-Bear’s New Society bookstore. Why the Greens? Because the integration of social and ecological sustainability is a key Green principle.

A few years later this newspaper was created Because some Sacramentans believe People Matter. People can make a difference, and people deserve consideration from others.

But how much do people matter?

Farewell to our BPM distribution team

Thank You Paulette!

From the BPM Editorial Board

Thanks to Paulette Cuilla for all her work and years of service. Paulette has been an indispensable help in getting our words out! She took on the distribution of BPM at a time when our network wasn’t working. She took an unorganized distribution concept and somehow got the paper into the hands of readers. She recruited and organized distributors into an efficient team.

It's time for single-payer, universal health care

My Story

By Cres Vellucci

I have been very healthy most of my life. It all came crashing down in February of this year when I found myself in the hospital without healthcare insurance.

Like tens of millions of Americans—the government says 48 million are uninsured but how long can that figure remain the same with millions of people losing their jobs and benefits?—I did not have health care because I could not find it at a reasonable price.

I did receive care, but was left with a $40,000 bill for four days of treatment.

Health Care: Ready for the Son of Harry and Louise?

Derailing Obama’s health plan

By Charlene Jones

Shortly after the American Hospital Association (www.aha.org) and America’s Health Insurance Plans (www.ahip.org ) changed their minds in May about volunteering to save Americans $2 trillion over 10 years, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina hired a public relations firm to derail President Obama’s public health plan.

The Washington Post’s May 18 story about Blue Cross/Blue Shield revealed a campaign as slick as the infamous ad couple Harry and Louise who helped kill health care reform in the 1990s.