| Vol. 4 No. 17 August 20, 2009 Archives |
2009 Production Schedule We also accept Online-Only Ads at discounted rates! *********** Subscription Information: The Capital City Hues 612 Christianson Ave., Madison, WI 53714-1533 ($45 a year) Contact Number: (608) 241-2000 Advertising: Claire G. Mendoza sales@capitalcityhues.com |
EDITORIAL STAFF Jonathan Gramling Publisher & Editor Heidi Manabat Managing Editor Clarita G. Mendoza Sales Manager Contributing Writers Paul Barrows, Alfonso Zepeda Capistran, Fabu, Andrew Gramling, Lang Kenneth Haynes, Heidi Pascual, Jessica Pharm, Laura Salinger, Jessica Strong, & Martinez White Webmaster: Heidi @ managing.editor@capitalcityhues.com |
| Back in the day, two of my brothers used to play rugby down in Milwaukee. Rugby roughly resembles American football except you don’t play with any pads or helmets. Miraculously people rarely got hurt outside of the usual nicks and scratches resulting from such close encounters of the physical kind. One of the features of rugby is the scrum, which is difficult to describe. The ball is placed on the ground and the opposing teams form semi-circles by leaning over and grabbing each other’s shoulders. The two semi-circles would come together and the referee would place the ball on the ground in the middle and the two semi-circles of opposing players would push toward the center, trying to push the scrum in a way that would allow the designated person from their squads be in a position to grab the ball and toss the ball in play to another team mate. In watching the health care reform debate over the summer, I can’t help but feel that the debate has become a national scrum. I haven’t felt and witnessed this much political tension and energy since the presidential inauguration last January when there was constant jockeying for position and status in the many days of celebration. When I was in Washington, D.C. during those days, I could almost feel the sense of power in the air. The same is true with the health care reform fight. Once can almost feel it in the air as politicians, lobbyists and interest groups jockey for position to formulate the health care debate in Congress to their own point of view and benefit from this $2.5 trillion industry. It is as if the two major sides on the health care reform debate, favoring and opposing a public option for health insurance, are in a national scrum with each side pushing against the other to get their representatives in a place where they can carry the ball for their version of health care reform. If the members of one side pause or stumble, with the massive political push that is going on, the other side could push far enough to carry the ball for their team. It is that sense of push that leads Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin to urge supporters of health care reform to contact her office because it gives her a better position to push for a strong public option. You can see the gathering of the forces of the health care reform debate. The rally last month at the State Capitol was just one of many Organizing for America rallies that were held in every Congressional district in the nation. Millions of dollars are being spent every day on advertising that simplifies and often inflames this very complicated issue. People have shown up at town hall meetings to express their anger over health care reform, fueled by often times fictitious charges about health care reform. There will be a lot of tension in the air when the Senate and House of Representatives reconvene next month. And yesterday, President Obama held a simultaneous telephone and Internet meeting with hundreds of thousands of supporters of health care reform. While he mentioned many of the features of health care reform — it requires many features and actions over the course of several years — he reiterated his support for a public health insurance option as a major piece of the reform, contrary to the rumors that have been fueled by television pundits over the past week. He urged his supporters to keep the pressure up and to keep contacting their representatives. Unlike a rugby scrum, this health care reform scrum has gotten quite vicious and dirty. With charges of health care reform being a socialistic effort that will set up death panels to decide the fate of grandma and other figments of the imaginations of the opponents of health care reform, the air of rationality has become quite clouded and sometimes confused. There is a lot of money at stake in this battle and some people are not going to let a sense of ethics and truth get in the way of their narrow self-interest. Just like a rugby scrum, this end of this health care reform scrum is very uncertain. With each passing day, it seems as if one side and then the other has the upper hand to pass their version of health care reform or not to pass any legislation at all. It is the side that has the most political push after Labor Day that will decide who runs with the health care reform bill. It’s important that everyone get involved in this scrum by calling their elected representatives. Each of us is an individual member of a scrum that will decide this nation’s future. |
| Reflections/Jonathan Gramling A HEALTH CARE REFORM SCRUM |
SCHOOL YEAR PRIMER Johnny Winston Jr. looks at the coming school year |
