Budgets are statements of values and priorities. What the GOP is preparing to do in less than a week says a lot about their priorities. Instead of closing tax loopholes and making smart spending cuts, the GOP is going to let damaging across the board spending cuts kick in next Friday. These cuts will not only damage the economy, they’ll hurt individual families and communities across the country.

Check out what eliminating just two giveaways to the wealthy and corporation could pay for. For example, we could avoid painful cuts to investments in jobs and education just by ending a giveaway to corporate jet owners”

And we could stop harmful cuts to children and families with disabilities if we just stopped letting the wealthiest Americans get tax breaks for the vacation homes and yachts:

Instead of asking the wealthiest Americans and special interests like Big Oil and Wall Street to pay their fair share, Republicans are insisting that families, including the most vulnerable among us, shoulder the burden of reducing our deficit and debt.

BOTTOM LINE: There’s still a week left to avert the damaging and painful sequester cuts. All Republicans have to do is agree to a balanced approach that replaces the indiscriminate cuts with both new revenues and smarter, targeted spending cuts.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed

Flying will be even more unpleasant thanks to the sequester (if you’re local airport isn’t simply closed).

House Republicans quietly introduce watered-down Violence Against Women Act.

Ted Cruz goes full Joe McCarthy.

5 important stories in Africa that don’t involve Oscar Pistorious.

Maryland is on the verge of repealing the death penalty.

Here’s 5 ways the sequester might make you sick.

New abortion bill in Indiana mandates two transvaginal probes.

Why taxes must go up.

How Republican activists are trying to use the courts to dismantle decades of progressive victories.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

#FaceOfClimate

02/23/2013 Nativegrl77

Today, exactly two months before Earth Day, Earth Day Network has announced the global theme for Earth Day 2013: The Face of Climate Change.

Why? Climate change can seem like a remote problem for many, but the fact is that it’s already impacting real people, animals, and beloved places all over the world. These Faces of Climate Change are multiplying every day. Fortunately, others are too: those stepping up to do something about it. For Earth Day 2013, we’ll tell the world these stories. We’ll tell the world your stories.

Between now and Earth Day, we’ll collect and display images that show The Face of Climate Change – and we need your help.

On and around Earth Day – April 22 – an interactive digital display of all the images will be shown at thousands of events around the world, including next to federal government buildings in the countries that produce the most carbon pollution. The display will also be made available online to anyone who wants to view or show it.

You can upload your photos and stories here. If possible, include a face in the picture and hold up a sign that says “The Face of Climate Change.” You can also post photos to Twitter and Instagram using this hashtag:

The Face of Climate Change will not only personalize and make real the massive challenge that climate change presents, it will unite Earth Day activities around the world into one call to action at a critical time. Join the movement!

– The Earth Day Network Team

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Beware: The Scooter Store

02/23/2013 Nativegrl77

David Sell, Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted: Friday, February 22, 2013, 3:01 AM

In TV ads, the Scooter Store suggests to seniors and others needing motorized scooters and wheelchairs that they can be had for almost no cost because the company will handle all the messy paperwork with insurers, particularly Medicare.

Wednesday and Thursday brought another example that nothing is free. Somebody – often taxpayers – has to pay.

About 150 state and federal law enforcement officers raided the company’s headquarters in a San Antonio suburb. The action was another phase in an ongoing health-care fraud investigation of the Scooter Store, which has an outlet in the Philadelphia region.

A spokesman for the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, which administers Medicare and Medicaid, would say only that the agency “executed a search warrant at several locations of the Scooter Store and that we were part of a multiagency task force.”

The San Antonio Express-News reported that OIG was joined by the FBI and the Texas Attorney General‘s Medicaid fraud unit.

The Scooter Store’s Philadelphia outlet is in Trainer, Delaware County. The manager declined to give his name and referred a reporter to the national office, which did not respond to phone and e-mail requests for comment.

“This raid is a welcome step toward cracking down on waste and fraud in Medicare payments for motorized wheelchairs involving the Scooter Store,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) said in a statement. “I have urged action to stop abusive overpayments for such devices – costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and preying on seniors with deceptive sales pitches.”

The cost of health care is a huge component in local, state, and national debates about how to solve budget challenges. In recent years, the federal government has increased efforts to scrutinize billing practices and thwart fraud, with durable medical devices being one area of particular concern.

Blumenthal is among the congressional leaders who have urged federal authorities to crack down on what they view as deceptive advertising that results in some angry seniors and bills for all taxpayers.

As Blumenthal noted, this is not the first time the Scooter Store has faced allegations of fraud.

In 2007, the company settled a civil suit with the Justice Department by paying $4 million and forgoing $13 million in Medicare claims after the government alleged the company submitted false claims for power wheelchairs that, among other things, beneficiaries did not want, did not need, or could not use.

The company’s five-year corporate integrity agreement with the government was due to expire in 2012 but remains open. The company was also supposed to reimburse the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) $19.5 million for overpayments between 2009 and 2011, according to the San Antonio newspaper. However, senators criticized the CMS for not pushing for more reimbursements, based on an outside audit of the company’s operations.

The company’s website has a specific category of products called “Medicare-Reimbursable Power Chairs,” with several listed for $3,699. It posed the question many seniors would ask: Is the power chair or scooter entirely covered by my insurance?

The answer had a few caveats, including the Medicare requirement to meet with a doctor to determine mobility needs. It also said: “If you qualify, Medicare may cover up to 80 percent of the cost of your power chair. Your supplemental insurance may pay the remaining 20 percent. In most cases, our customers pay little to nothing for their power chairs.”

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Forward on Climate Rally – February 17, 2013

02/22/2013 Nativegrl77

On February 17, nearly 50,000 Americans and 168 different organizations marched to the president’s front door to demand we go forward on climate.

This wasn’t just a one-time rally — it was the beginning of a movement. Now we need to show President Obama that those marchers represented millions of us across the country.

There are three steps President Obama can take right now, without waiting on Congress, to start fulfilling his promise to lead on climate. It’s up to you to help him take those steps.

Call the White House today at (202) 456-1111 and tell them that, for the sake of our future, we need President Obama to:

Stop Keystone XL and other tar sands infrastructure
Enact strong standards to limit carbon pollution from our nation’s dirty power plants
Protect America’s lands — including the Arctic — from oil, coal, and unregulated fracking

If the line is busy, keep trying!

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

What President Obama Wants to Do for Education

02/22/2013 Nativegrl77

What You Need to Know About President Obama’s Plan to Provide High-Quality Early Education for All ChildrenThe beginning years of a child’s life are critical for building the early foundation needed for success later in school and in life. Leading economists agree that high-quality early learning programs can help level the playing field for children from lower-income families on vocabulary, social and emotional development, while helping students to stay on track and stay engaged in the early elementary grades. Children who attend these programs are more likely to do well in school, find good jobs, and succeed in their careers than those who don’t.

That’s why, in his State of the Union Address, President Obama called on Congress to expand access to high-quality pre-school to every child in America.

Find out more about President Obama’s plan to help our children and our future.

Obama Administration Launches College ScorecardFollowing the State of the Union, the Administration released an interactive “College Scorecard” that empowers families to make smart investments in higher education. As the President said in his State of the Union Address, we want to help families get the most bang for their educational buck.

The College Scorecard – part of President Obama’s continued efforts to hold colleges accountable for cost, value and quality – highlights key indicators about the cost and value of institutions across the country to help students choose a school that is well-suited to meet their needs, priced affordably, and is consistent with their educational and career goals.

Check out the College Scorecard.

Open for Questions: The State of the Union and Education

Last week, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sat down to answer questions about President Obama’s State of the Union Address and what it means for education.

Check it out: