Congrats to our own Juan Sepulveda!
"Beginning June 8, I’ll start my new position as the Director of the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans at the Education Department. The focus of the Initiative is higher education (community college/4-year college/graduate and professional schools). The mission is to partner with higher education institutions to help them recruit, educate, support, retain, and graduate higher numbers of Latino students. A few more updates—my wife, Teresa Nino, has also joined the Administration. As some of you know, Teresa was a political appointee during the Clinton Administration at HHS. She’s returning to HHS as the Director of External Affairs for the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS). And finally, our daughter, Victoria, just recently found out that she was admitted to Harvard. She starts in Cambridge in the fall. And our son, Michael, a sophomore at DePaul, will be interning with Congressman Charlie Gonzalez’s DC office this summer. We’re extremely proud of both of them! Our family has been very blessed.” Your alamObama family salutes you! Here’s the official notice
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/05/05192009d.html .
Juan, does this mean we won’t see your TV show anymore?
Monthly Meeting
Our next meeting will be June 11, 6:30 PM at the SAAPAC office, 7122 San Pedro. We’ll discuss voter registration activities, the push for healthcare reform and an alamObama event called Banking On HealthCare scheduled for June 27th.
Healthcare Push
The Health Care Reform Kick Off event is Saturday, June 6. There are several events scheduled within the next week in the San Antonio area. Saturday includes: a moderated discussion hosted by Mexican American and Hispanic Physician Association (MAHPA) which will feature University Hospital’s CEO among others; A Song of Hope which will bring together different groups, artist, soloist, and musicians coming together to bring awareness of the cause; Saving Money to Prevent Chronic Diseases, a discussion on how to use existing government resources to begin a disease prevention program; there’s still room at the Johnson House where single payer advocates will join the discussion; friends and neighbors up north will meet at Lily’s Phillipine Bakery & Restaurant, and New Braunfels Citizens for Community Development will look at health care reform. Stone Oak Therapy Clinic is seeking creative input on changing the way healthcare currently operates on Wednesday, and Amir Zakaria wants to rally support for healthcare reform June 16th. Go to www.barackobama.com to sign up for an event. (See more health care reform resources at end of post)
White House
The President: spoke in Cairo to a standing ovation, read his remarks or watch a video on Muslim Americans proudly serving in the federal government; writes to Congress spelling out what he wants in health care reform, and the CEA issues a pivotal report entitled “The Economic Case for Health Care Reform; discusses the breadth and depth of experience held by his nominee for the Supreme Court. Plus see some of the best and brightest innovation from around government, and contribute your own ideas. This and more at www.whitehouse.gov.
Local
There’s a lot of finger pointing in the State Legislature as the slow pace pointed to a possible special session. Before they adjourned in the House, GOP caucus chairman Larry Taylor said hundreds of bills were in jeopardy and Democrats were controlling the pace while House Democratic leader Jim Dunham told reporters Republicans repeatedly blocked bills Dems tried to bring forward. Meanwhile Governor Perry said watching Monday’s legislative session was like watching an episode of “Lost” as the Senate adjourned without passing legislation to extend TxDOT, Texas Department of Insurance and three other agencies after the House had already scattered http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/index.html.
SAAPAC Fundraiser
Groups are meeting and talking at San Antonio Progressive Area Coalition, 7122 San Pedro. AlamObama is just one of many groups taking advantage of this space. But SAAPAC needs funds to operate. So let’s join them in their fundraiser Tuesday, June 30, 2009 , 5:30 - 10 pm at Big Kahuna Restaurant, 741 W. Ashby Place (across from SA Little Theater). Go towww.saapac.org to get details on the fundraiser, make a donation to SAAPAC if you can’t attend, and find an activity that may interest you on their events calendar.
Health Care Reform Info and Resources
The White House Council of Economic Advisors released a report this week entitled “The Economic Case for Health Care Reform”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/The-Economic-Case-for-Health-Care-Reform/
Hospitals Will Fight Legislation Requiring Charity Care Standards
Information on the Uninsured in Texas from our friends at Organizing for North Texas
• One in four Texans (5.6 million of us) are uninsured. That’s the highest rate in all 50 states. The
national average is 16%. In all, 46 million Americans are uninsured.
• 79% of the uninsured work or have a working family member.
• 70% of Texas businesses employ fewer than 50 people. Only 37% of those small businesses offer
health insurance benefits to their employees, and only 35% of their employees are able to take
advantage of those benefits.
• Approximately 76-82% of the uninsured are U.S. citizens. 70% are Anglo.
WHY ARE SO MANY TEXANS UNINSURED?
• The average cost of health insurance premiums (currently $9,100 annually for a family) is
almost half of the federal poverty limit.
• Texas has extremely restrictive qualifications for Medicaid, and most lower-income adults do
not qualify. (The Texas Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) covers children in families
making less than 200% of the poverty level, but does not provide coverage for adults.)
WHAT IS THE RESULT OF SO MANY UNINSURED FAMILIES?
• 2,500 uninsured Texans die prematurely each year.
• 1 million uninsured Texans do not receive adequate care for their chronic illnesses.
• 3 million uninsured Texans are less likely to seek and receive critical preventative care and
screening services that minimize more costly medical care later.
• The responsibility of providing healthcare to the uninsured or underinsured increases the cost of
healthcare and health insurance to who do have health insurance, through higher taxes and
higher healthcare costs.
WHAT IS THE COST OF INACTION ON HEALTHCARE REFORM?
• Your premiums and out-of-pocket healthcare costs will continue to go up.
• More and more people will be priced out of private healthcare plans, increasing the burden on
local communities, states and the federal government. In response, taxes will rise and other
important government services will be cut back.
• Everything you buy will continue to cost more and more, as businesses are forced to raise prices
to pay for their employees’ benefits and for their rising tax burden.
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