Tom Sgouros: Short Takes
Tom Sgouros, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™
Tom Sgouros: Short Takes
In a bid to revive itself as a private library, the Adams Library of Central Falls will be holding a gala fundraiser to try to raise enough money to keep itself open. They will be having what looks like a great event next Friday, September 30, at the Library (205 Central Street). The event will start at 6:30, and will have music, food, an open bar, special appearances by the Big Nazo puppets, and a silent auction with all kinds of cool stuff, including visits with local artists and creative folks.
I'm not wild about the idea of municipal services becoming private in this way, but the library is an essential resource for a poor city -- it's a scandal that it was deemed non-essential -- and it would be tragic in many ways to see it close. Let's pitch in to keep it open until a day when people who care about our cities and the people in them prevail at the General Assembly. RSVP for the event by clicking here.
Health Care Reform Already Working
The Census Bureau poverty report I reviewed last Monday also contains data about health care coverage. The news here was mostly what you'd expect: increasing poverty means less health care coverage. Becoming poor in America usually means getting sicker, too. The one bright spot to be found in those numbers is that the health care coverage of young people 18-25 or so has not fallen, as it has for every other age group. So far as I know, the most likely reason for this is that as of last year, insurance companies have to allow children to stay on their parents' policies until age 26. That is, President Obama's health care reform seems already to be a benefit for a few million people. I don't know about you, but that makes me feel a bit happier about the pain of watching it slog its way through Congress.
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The fact is that health care expenses are the hidden villain behind a tremendous amount of what ails our country. It certainly colors many of my family's financial decisions, and I bet it does in your family, too. It influences whether businesses can hire people, and affects their decisions about how much those people can be paid. The other important fact is last year's health care reform -- as inadequate as it was -- was the first significant piece of legislation that actually addressed this huge problem. I'm glad to see that it's already having an effect, and I look forward to the day when paying for the doctor is less of a concern than what the doctor has to say to us.
Government at Work (not)
By the way, here's something else I learned from the Census report, or rather from its cover page. As of the issue date, Obama does not have either a Secretary of Commerce, or a Deputy Secretary. There is an acting Secretary, but John Bryson, the former CEO of the electric utility holding company Edison International and Obama's nominee for Commerce of last March, has been held up in the Senate for months and the prospects are currently dim that he will be confirmed at all. Why? Maybe because thirty years ago he helped found the Natural Resources Defense Council, an organization Republicans don't like. Or maybe it's because the Senate wants Obama to approve three "free-trade" agreements with Panama, South Korea, and Colombia. Or maybe they don't like the color of his socks. But once again, despite the nominee having a clear majority of support in your US Senate, that majority's deference to Republican Senators who abuse Senate rules is preventing your government from working as it should.
A prediction: those Senate rules will last only until Republicans are back in power and a Democrat has the temerity to attempt to abuse them in the same way.
Tom Sgouros is the editor of the Rhode Island Policy Reporter, at whatcheer.net and the author of "Ten Things You Don't Know About Rhode Island." Contact him at [email protected].