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EPA, Washington State Department of Ecology: Reject Increased Cancer Risk Level; Approve New Fish Consumption Rate |
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Tag Archives: reviews
Basic Tips for saving water in Washington …from USA.gov
Saving Water Partnership
Seattle and participating water utilities
Many people think that having an environmentally friendly house means spending thousands of dollars on solar panels or planting a garden on the roof to keep the house cool during the summer time.
That’s not really the case. There are many things you can do to help the environment without having to transform your home, or even spend too much money. In fact, you might end up saving hundreds of dollars per year in the process.
For more information click on the link below
http://www.USA.gov
chief victims of global warming are women
women walk miles for water and gather the firewood … and women grow the food
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Thank Governor Bullock for Medicaid Expansion!
Right now, 70,000 Montanans are caught between not qualifying for Medicaid and being unable to afford health insurance on their own.
Governor Bullock has just signed a bipartisan bill that would close this gap and ensure all Montanans have access to quality health care.
SIGN YOUR NAME: Thank Governor Bullock for expanding Medicaid!
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The State of Social Security and Medicare ~ a repost 2015
a repost
What You Need To Know From The Latest Social Security Trustees Annual Report
The latest annual report from the trustees for Social Security and Medicare came out today. It provided some very good news on the health care front: the report extended Medicare’s solvency by four years from 2026 to 2030. This improved financial health can be attributed in part to the Affordable Care Act, which is helping to reduce costs.
Just a few years ago, before the Affordable Care Act was fully implemented, the trustees predicted that the Medicare trust fund would run out by 2016. Another reason to be thankful for the ACA.
On the Social Security front, some news reports are focusing on the financial shortfall that the program faces in the next 75 years. But it is both expected and manageable. Here are the four key takeaways, from a post by Center for American Progress experts Rebecca Vallas and Christian E. Weller:
1. Social Security can continue to pay all promised benefits for the next two decades. As was the case in last year’s report, the Trustees continue to estimate that Social Security will be able to pay all scheduled retirement, disability, and survivorship benefits through 2033. Social Security has two trust funds: one for the retirement and survivorship benefit programs, and one for the much smaller Disability Insurance (DI) program (although experts generally consider the two funds together due to the interrelated nature of Social Security’s programs). Individually, the Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund is projected to deplete its reserves in 2035, and the DI trust fund will do so in 2016. After 2033, the Trustees project that Social Security income from payroll taxes will be sufficient to cover 77 percent of promised benefits after 2033, unless policymakers implement changes before then.
2. Social Security’s shortfall is modest. The Trustees project that the entire Social Security shortfall for the next 75 years will be about 1 percent of GDP, or 2.88 percent of taxable payroll. The bulk of this shortfall, 2.55 percent of payroll or 88.5 percent of the entire shortfall, is attributed to OASI. The Trustees have long projected both the OASI and DI shortfalls. While an aging population is frequently discussed as the driving factor, recent analysis by Monique Morrissey at the Economic Policy Institute finds that as much as half of the shortfall is attributable to rising inequality and wage growth that has lagged behind gains in productivity.
3. The fact that action will soon be needed to address Disability Insurance’s finances has long been expected. As with last year’s report, this year the Trustees continue to project that the DI trust fund will be exhausted in 2016—something that has been expected for nearly 20 years.
4. A routine step would ensure that Social Security can pay all benefits in full through 2033. Rebalancing—an adjustment in the share of payroll taxes allocated to each of the trust funds—has occurred in a bipartisan manner 11 times in the program’s history to account for demographic shifts or other changes. About half the time funds have been reallocated toward OASI, and about half the time toward DI.
BOTTOM LINE: The trustees for Social Security and Medicare brought the good news that Medicare’s financial health is better than expected. And the predictions it makes for Social Security are both expected and manageable–permitting our elected officials can take action to strengthen this program that is a bedrock of economic security for working Americans.
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Rescind my city’s cruel anti-homeless feeding ban … still?
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Helping my city’s homeless could land me in jail with a $2000 dollar fine. Last November, a 90-year-old Florida man was arrested and faced 60 days in jail for feeding the homeless. A few months later, a San Antonio woman was hit with a $2000 dollar fine for doing the same.. These “feeding bans” have popped up all over the United States. In fact, more than 70 cities around the country have instituted or tried to institute similar ordinances. My name is Randall Kallinen, and I am deeply saddened to say that my beloved city of Houston has followed suit. Now, a good deed could cost you $2000 here, too. This is just the wrong direction to be taking. It’s anti-compassion and anti-humanitarian, and we need to turn it around. Tell Mayor Annise Parker and the Houston City Council that feeding the homeless isn’t a crime. Change the law and allow good samaritans to feed the hungry. As a civil rights lawyer for over 21 years, homeless advocate and the president of Houston’s ACLU chapter for 3 years, I speak from experience when I say that humane acts of kindness should be rewarded, not punished. When Houston passed this ban 3 years ago, organizations from across the religious and political spectrum spoke out because they understood that being a good samaritan isn’t a religious or political issue, but rather a matter of human rights. Now most have been frightened off from giving to the needy. Helping those in need should be considered a fundamental right, particularly now when more and more people are experiencing food insecurity and the government is failing to fix the problem. Houston’s cruel “anti-feeding” ordinance stands in the way of that right, and it is up to you and me to overturn it. Because of our size, as Texas goes, so goes the rest of the country in many political matters. Too many cities have already adopted these anti-humanitarian measures. Getting Houston to rescind this draconian ordinance where you must seek permission as where and when to feed more than 5 less fortunate outside on public property could go a long way toward turning the tide across the nation. Criminalizing charity penalizes our community’s most vulnerable. Can you help to make sure that doesn’t happen? Let’s put an end to this misguided ordinance and return the spirit of giving and charity to the city of Houston. Join me and tell Mayor Annise Parker and the Houston City Council that every human deserves compassion. Tell them to rescind the “anti-feeding” ordinance. |
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