Thank you to everyone who turned out for the Fall Awards night. We raised over $2000 for the Party. A good time was had by all - thanks to everyone who helped.

Just a reminder that the LDTC will be meeting this Sunday at 7PM at the Senior Center in Lincoln.

Thanks, Pat

Thanks to the Hard work of Jim Jahnz and the other council people, a victory has been won for the group home on Southwich Drive! From the projo: "amilies of several adults with severe retardation won a reprieve today. The families are fighting an effort to close their Lincoln group home. The two sides in the matter emerged from a meeting in Superior Court Judge Netti C. Vogel's chambers with an agreement that the home will remain open while the families and their lawyer have a grievance heard by the state Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals. Today's developments do not yet guarantee the Lincoln home will stay open, but the lawyer for the families cast it as a win. The adults have lived together for 25 years in the same group home in Lincoln and don't want to be moved to another home in Smithfield. The judge's message was there is an appeal process, go through it and see what the process produces before closing the home." See the how story HERE

The State Party has a new web site at this address

www.ridemocrats.org.

From today's Projo story by Kia Hall Hayes..

Advocates for four adults with severe retardation who have lived together for 25 years in the same group home in Lincoln are fighting an effort to move them to another home in Smithfield.

It’s the same battle that was fought �" and won �" 12 years ago.

Beth Keeling, the home supervisor, says closing the home would devastate the men and women who live there.

“They know home, they want home, they sign for home,” she said.

The state Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals first closed the adults’ Southwick Drive home, in Lincoln, in 1995 and moved the group to a home on Rogler Farm Drive in Smithfield to save $100,000.   Read More »

From today's Projo story by Kia Hall Hayes..

Advocates for four adults with severe retardation who have lived together for 25 years in the same group home in Lincoln are fighting an effort to move them to another home in Smithfield.

It’s the same battle that was fought �" and won �" 12 years ago.

Beth Keeling, the home supervisor, says closing the home would devastate the men and women who live there.

“They know home, they want home, they sign for home,” she said.   Read More »

The LDTC has decided to once again open up its web site for a public forum on whether or not the building of the Blackstone Valley Courthouse in Lincoln is a good idea. The site is open to all members of the public, regardless of party affiliation. People can link to the site at Link

LINCOLN - Rhode Island's Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts has been asked to address the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee at its monthly meeting. Be on hand to hear Governor Roberts speak at 7:00pm on Wednesday May 9, 2007 at the Lincoln Senior Center.

LDTC members, potential members and Friends of the LDTC who need a ride to the meeting may contact Tim McMahon at 401-722-0458 or tmcmahon@elevenlimited.com.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the first annual LDTC Earth Day event. It was a great success. Below is a story that ran in today's Pawtucket Times about our efforts.   Read More »

Lincoln Resident John Barr has a great letter to the Editor in today's Valley Breeze...   Read More »

From the self promotion department, this just in...   Read More »

Great story in today's Projo about how Councilman John Flynn was right on the scene during last weeks flooding of Front Street.   Read More »

HA! So I guess the Republican Town Committee is a little upset that work is being done in town. Well, I guess actually producing gets under their skin! Read Charlie Cox's letter to the editor in today's Breeze~   Read More »

Friend and Organizer Craig OConnor recently published this editorial in the Woonsocket Call.

02/09/2007
Lets take the profit out of health insurance
CRAIG OCONNOR , Ocean State Action

The health care crisis we face is real and Rhode
Islanders deserve an authentic solution.
In Rhode Island, employers are being priced out
of the system and dropping coverage for
employees; workers and their families have no
guaranteed continuity of coverage within the
employer-based system; young people are losing
coverage as they age-out of their family plans;
and local hospitals are struggling to provide
care to greater numbers of uninsured patients.

In this crisis, there is a central moral choice
we as a state, and a nation, need to make. Do we
have the courage to rethink our notion of how to
pay for health care? Or are we going to continue
with Band-Aid reforms that only postpone the
collapse of our irrational non-system of
for-profit health care?

At the national level, Bush administration
reforms, supported by for-profit insurance
companies and the pharmaceutical industry, have
focused on the idea that we as patients are the
problem in the health care system, and that the
�fix� is in the personal choices individuals
make. The administration�s proposals include
�high deductible health plans� that neglect to
control the real cost drivers in our system and
which, by raising out of pocket costs for
patients, may prevent them from getting the
health care they need. While everyone must take
responsibility for their own health, wellness is
only one small piece of the larger systems
reforms that must take place. Patients are not to
blame for out-of-control health cost inflation -
and simply shifting costs onto our shoulders is
not a solution.

Lacking leadership in Washington, states across
the nation have tried to tackle the complex
problem of health care in a variety of ways. But
in too many cases, these noble efforts fall short
of challenging the pattern of for-profit, private
health insurance. Plans like the one passed last
year in Massachusetts do not directly deal with
cost controls, fail to move coverage out of
employer-based systems, and continue to support
for-profit insurers. These reform efforts may
increase insurance coverage in the short-term,
but years from now, states like Massachusetts
will be back where they started: workers and
employers will be unable to pay, people will lose
coverage, and public programs will become more
expensive.

So what do we do to achieve a real and
sustainable universal health care system for
Rhode Island?

First, we must hold the line. We must protect
Rhode Island�s incredibly efficient and
successful public health care programs, including
RIte Care. Last year, lawmakers enacted changes
that bar hundreds of children from enrolling, and
take away health care from 1,800 parents. This
year, we must restore coverage to all kids and
parents who fall within the income eligibility
levels. More uninsured Rhode Islanders means more
emergency care that we all pay for. RIte Care
prevents future, and costly, health care
emergencies.

Second, lawmakers should pass legislation this
year to control costs through statewide
coordinated health planning and institute
�community rating,� a common-sense model of a
single insurance pool that shares risk equally
among our entire community. Our system must
reflect the reality that we are all in this
together.

Third, let�s take the profit out of health
insurance. The market may work for selling
dishwashers or tennis rackets, but doesn�t when
it comes to ensuring a basic right like access to
health care. Non-profit insurers use the money
they collect in premiums to pay for better health
care. For-profits use that same money to pay
higher dividends to investors and soaring
salaries to executives.

Right now, United HealthCare is proposing to send
more than $40 million from Rhode Island to its
parent company in Minnesota. Rhode Island
patients and providers can not afford to lose
these dollars. We also can not afford the higher
overhead costs associated with for-profit
insurance. Overhead costs for public programs
like RIte Care are just a few pennies on the
dollar, while for-profit overhead is often 20-25
cents or more.

By taking the profit out of health insurance, we
can make real systemic change based on specific
principles and goals that put patients and
community well being at the center of our system.

Now is the time for Rhode Island to tackle the
real problems in our health care system in order
to provide quality, guaranteed, affordable care
for all. Each of us must contribute to reform -
so that every one of us gains.

O�Connor is the associate director of Ocean State
Action, a social action and reform organization
based in Providence.

©The Call 2007

Ian Donnis from the Providence Phoenix has a post on his blog about an upcoming analysis of the Governor's budget proposal....

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

RI's Politics of Rich and Poor

In a short piece to be published in this week's Phoenix, Brian C. Jones takes a look at the budget math of how Governor Carcieri has proposed taking about $15 million in state child-care subsidies from thousands of low-income families -- about the same amount of state revenue eliminated with last year's upper bracket tax cut:

This is the background: The tax break approved by the Democratic General Assembly and Republican Carcieri could help 2900 taxpayers with incomes of $225,000 and more.

My math says that 1073 resident taxpayers could save an average of nearly $11,000 this year; non-residents could average about $1600. Overall, $14.5 million would be lost in state revenues.

In contrast, the governor has just proposed saving the treasury $15.2 million by eliminating about 2400 lower-income households from child-care subsidies.

These families earn roughly $25,800 to $38,600. Because of the subsidies, they pay a just a faction of the estimated $15,000 it costs for two children in day care.

But if Carcieri�s cuts go through, I figure each family would pay an average of about $8000 more for child care.

For a class warrior, the math is disturbing: take away $15 million from working families; give the wealthy $15 million worth of tax savings.

But as I checked figures with various agencies, one state government veteran suggested I skip the beat-on-the-rich part.

This Wise One is weary of Rhode Island�s historic civil wars between ethnic groups, economic classes, and political parties.

Stick to the merits of child-care, he said.

A cornerstone of the state�s farsighted approach to welfare reform, the program helps nearly 6700 families grab the bottom rungs of the economic ladder.

Without such help, work often can�t pay.

For example, the Poverty Institute at Rhode Island College says a single mom, who has two kids and earns around $31,000, can make ends meet if she gets the subsidy.

She pays about $2,200 a year -- seven percent of her income -- for child-care. Dumped from the program, the full $15,000 child care bill will devour 50 percent of her income.

Child-care itself has grown into a healthy industry: 1037 center- and home-based facilities in 1997, compared with 1831 in 2005.

Linda Katz, the Poverty Institute�s policy director, says child-care is important to the overall economy. It provides jobs and allows others to go to work.

Meanwhile, the Wise One with whom I consulted argues: �So what if the tax cut matches the budget cut?�

The theory of the tax break is that Rhode Island�s top tax bracket drives away the rich, and the state loses their big, taxable incomes, plus jobs their companies provide.

Personally, I think it�s a preposterous theory. But I�m often wrong about such things, and if the proponents are right, the state will be a big winner.

Meanwhile, the child-care program stands on its own. It deserves support, as do the heroic families making their way in the brutal economy of the 21st Century.

The Lincoln Town Council, led by a Democratic Majority, is looking to re-establish public comment at the "work sessions" of the Council. What are you thoughts?

If I am elected Chairperson of the LDTC, I pledge work on three important issues:
Improve Membership Communication

I will pre-schedule the regular monthly meetings for the entire year to maintain consistency. All meeting notices will be mailed on time as well as posted on the Internet and in local newspaper s. Using the website www.lincoln-democrats.org as a model, the LDTC website will be professionally managed with Calendar, Fundraising, and Feedback capabilities. We will make the LDTC website a model for other committees across Rhode Island.
Build Our Party Structure in Lincoln

The grassroots are where our strength comes from, so I will work with each district chairperson to build their committees; working with them to identify and recruit potential members and to hold fundraisers in each district on the town. I pledge to be prepared for the next election by establishing a get-out-the-vote program with precinct captains in each of Lincoln’s 16 precincts, phone banks, and a neighborhood canvass team.
Improve Our Image in Lincoln

I pledge to make our committee one that people want to join. I pledge that our committee will act as watchdogs, not attack dogs, on the Republican administration. I pledge to work with the newly elected Democratic majority on the Town Council and provide community support for its agenda. We will work with other community leaders on the School Committee, Planning Board, Housing Authority, and all other Boards and Commissions.

Beyond politics, I pledge to lead by example, and engage the LDTC in community events by sponsoring a family day and a neighborhood clean up.

Thanks for reading, and on January 10 th, please vote for me as LDTC Chairperson.