Tag Archives: Events

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the Amazon


Chainsaws and bulldozers are devouring the Amazon rainforest  — home to jaguars, parrots, and sloths.

Macao Parrot in Brazil

Can you chip in $5 today to protect the Amazon and other threatened ecosystems worldwide?
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An area bigger than the state of Texas is missing from the heart of the Amazon rainforest.

A place where jaguars, parrots, and sloths used to roam, fly, and climb — where hundreds of indigenous groups once lived — is gone. The result of decades of man made destruction.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Scandals


By

What Conservatives Should Do If They Are Really Concerned About Veterans Health Care

The scandal at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs over long wait times to receive health care and fraudulent reporting by hospital administrators is a serious problem that needs to be addressed immediately. Yesterday, a preliminary report from the VA Inspector General confirmed many of the initial problems, finding that:

a) at least 1,700 veterans waiting for care were purposely withheld from the official electronic wait list because administrators knew they could not receive care within a 14-day period that was the goal;

b) at the Phoenix VA hospital at the center of the controversy, the average wait time for an initial primary care appointment was in fact 115 days, and not 24 days as reported by the Phoenix hospital;

c) there were multiple paper wait lists used to track patients in addition to the electronic wait list that were invisible to federal oversight.

Other reports coming out indicate that “cooking the books” is a much broader problem within the VA.

Secretary Eric Shinseki has called the findings “reprehensible” and is “not waiting to set things straight.” In fact, Shinseki, a disabled Vietnam veteran who served in the Army for 38 years, has fought an uphill battle to reform the VA bureaucracy in a number of ways, according to experts at the Center for American Progress. But that hasn’t stopped numerous elected officials from calling for his resignation, including, at last count, 74 Republican members of Congress.

We all agree that veterans deserve the best possible care. But if conservatives were truly outraged at the prospect of veterans not receiving the health care they deserve, there’s another step they could take right now to expand coverage to not just thousands, but hundreds of thousands of veterans, and almost 5 million Americans overall. Instead, they are standing directly in the way.

There are over a quarter million uninsured veterans in states that are currently refusing to accept federal funding to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. These veterans are not receiving delayed care, they aren’t receiving any care at all. While many people assume that all veterans have health benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs, as of 2013 only two-thirds were eligible and just one-third were enrolled. The map below shows a state-by-state breakdown of those affected:

medicaid_vets

Conservative legislators have been quick to condemn the VA’s actions, but that hasn’t stopped them from voting again and again to repeal the Affordable Care Act that expands coverage to millions of people, including veterans. And it hasn’t stopped them from defending state lawmakers who continue to refuse to expand Medicaid under the ACA and deny coverage to veterans and millions of other Americans.

BOTTOM LINE: The scandal at the VA is serious, and those at fault should be held accountable. But those who would repeal the Affordable Care Act are at the heart of another scandal: over 250,000 veterans in 24 states have no access to care at all because of conservative lawmakers’ refusal to expand Medicaid.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Drugs Diet and injuries


liver and drugs

 

05/28/2014 11:00 AM EDT
May is Hepatitis Awareness Month, a fitting time to focus on liver health. Drugs and dietary supplements pose a potential danger and have been responsible for drug-induced liver injuries. FDA is working to prevent those injuries.

Read this Consumer Update to learn what FDA is doing to prevent those injuries.

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Health Benefits Laws Compliance Assistance – Denver, Colorado


Healthcare Seminar: Health Benefits Laws Compliance Assistance – Denver, Colorado

Looking for practical information, helpful tips and clarification about Colorado and federal health benefits laws? Join the Department of Labor, the Colorado Insurance Division and a representative from the IRS for this FREE seminar!

  • WHEN: June 17-18
  • WHERE: University of Denver
    Lindsay Auditorium
    2000 E. Asbury Ave.

> Read more and register

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Mel Watt: Enact “Principal Reduction”


Mel Watt has the power to lift FHFA’s ban on principal reduction without Congressional approval.
Millions of households are at risk of foreclosure.

'Mel Watt during public hearing

Tell FHFA Director Mel Watt to help keep struggling families in their homes:

Join Us

Since the start of the 2008 recession, an estimated 10 million American households have been foreclosed, evicted, or displaced and millions more are still at risk.1 The brutal housing crisis hit Black people especially hard,2 but now there’s a new opportunity to roll back years of destructive federal housing policy, repair the housing finance market, and help struggling homeowners stay in their homes.

Former North Carolina Congressman Mel Watt was recently confirmed as a top federal housing regulator and director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). He could help millions of households avoid unnecessary foreclosures by lifting the FHFA’s restriction on a loan modification process known as “principal reduction,”3 — lowering the amount owed to current market value to decrease monthly payments.4 This would stabilize local economies by putting millions of dollars back into the hands of homeowners, giving cities more reliable property tax revenues, and ensuring lenders have fewer delinquent loans. But he won’t act unless enough of us raise our voices and demand that he make it a priority.

Please join us in demanding FHFA Director Mel Watt suspend all evictions and foreclosures by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac until his administration reviews and changes key policies, including lifting the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s restriction on principal reduction. It only takes a moment.

Since the start of the housing crisis, Black households have lost 53 percent of their wealth,5 retirement accounts have shrunk,6 and the worst underwater areas continue to be disproportionately located in Black communities. The FHFA was created in 2008 to help homeowners and stabilize the real estate market and the economy — but it has done little to help. Instead the agency has consistently refused to let government-backed lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reduce the principal owed on homes weighed down by “underwater” mortgages,7 meaning they now owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. If Fannie and Freddie were authorized to make loan modifications such as principal reduction, homeowners could expect lower monthly mortgage payments, making it far more likely that they could avoid foreclosure and eviction.8 At least 8 state Attorneys General and 45 Members of the House of Representatives have called for principal reduction and harshly criticized the FHFA’s inaction.9

Before his appointment as director of the FHFA, Watt served as a North Carolina congressman for more than two decades, where he tirelessly advocated for struggling homeowners, co-sponsored mortgage reform and anti-predatory lending legislation and promoted affordable housing. Watt was also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), serving as the group’s chairman from 2005-2006.10 In fact, in 2012 Watt was among a group of CBC members and other progressive lawmakers that sent President Barack Obama a letter urging him to enact principal reduction and provide assistance to underwater borrowers.11 Now that he has the power to mitigate widespread suffering in Black communities caused by the housing crisis, we must remind him of his past support for principal reduction and that failure to take action will stain his legacy.

Mel Watt is uniquely positioned to take bold action to address the nation’s underwater mortgage epidemic — and he doesn’t even need Congressional approval to act.12 But in his first major speech since his appointment, Watt made no commitment and he only indicated that the FHFA was “studying principal reduction right now” in response to a direct question.13 Without intervention from the FHFA and Mel Watt, we will continue to see our communities blighted, unable to recover, and suffering devastating economic impacts from this unchecked foreclosure crisis.14

Join us in demanding FHFA Director Mel Watt issue a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions, lift the restriction on principal reduction, keep families in their homes and end unnecessary suffering in our communities. And when you do, please ask your friends and family to do the same.

Thanks and Peace,

–Rashad, Matt, Arisha, Aimée, Jamar and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
May 28th, 2014

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way.

References

1. “10 Million Americans Have Had Their Homes Taken Away by the Banks — Often at the Point of a Gun,” AlterNet, 08-01-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3479?t=7&akid=3412.1174326.jGfCGm

2. “The Great Eviction: Black America and the Toll of the Foreclosure Crisis,” Mother Jones, 08-01-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3481?t=9&akid=3412.1174326.jGfCGm

3. “What Is Mel Watt Waiting For?,” Huffington Post, 05-13-14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3482?t=11&akid=3412.1174326.jGfCGm

4. “What Housing Recovery?,” New York Times, 5-8-14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3485?t=13&akid=3412.1174326.jGfCGm

5. “Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks, Hispanics,” Pew Research, 07-26-11
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3497?t=15&akid=3412.1174326.jGfCGm

6. “Foreclosure crisis not over for minorities,” CBS News, 06-25-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3496?t=17&akid=3412.1174326.jGfCGm

7. “Liberal advocates want Obama to dump FHFA’s DeMarco,” Washington Post, 03-12-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3483?t=19&akid=3412.1174326.jGfCGm

8. “A Major Lift for Fannie and Freddie,” NY Times, 05-13-14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3484?t=21&akid=3412.1174326.jGfCGm

9. See reference 3.

10. “Obama to Nominate Mel Watt to Head FHFA,” The Root, 05-01-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3489?t=23&akid=3412.1174326.jGfCGm

11. “House Democrats press for homeowner help in ‘fiscal cliff’ deal,” The Hill, 02-11-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3490?t=25&akid=3412.1174326.jGfCGm

12. “What Housing Recovery?,” NY Times, 05-08-14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3485?t=27&akid=3412.1174326.jGfCGm

13. “Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac won’t reduce loan limits, regulator says,” LA Times, 05-13-14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3487?t=29&akid=3412.1174326.jGfCGm

14. “Underwater America: How the So-Called Housing ‘Recovery’ Is Bypassing Many American Communities,” (.pdf), The Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, 05-01-14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3498?t=31&akid=3412.1174326.jGfCGm