Healthcare

Every year, our country comes together on Veterans Day to honor the brave men and women of our armed services who risk their lives daily to protect our freedoms and to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending our country.  America would not be what it is today without the heroism and sacrifice of those individuals bravely serving our country.  Our service men and women risk their lives to protect our country and it's our duty as leaders in Washington and Sacramento to ensure America keeps its promises to our veterans. 

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." – Elmer Davis

Every year it seems the Christmas season starts earlier and earlier. It is only November and already radio stations are filling the airwaves with Christmas music and department stores have decorations on full display. In the haste of readying for Christmas, we often overlook one of our nation’s most important holidays: Veterans Day. 

Veterans Day is a chance to give thanks to all the men and women who fight tirelessly to keep us free, including the 495,800 veterans in the state of Tennessee. Veterans Day serves as a powerful reminder of how our nation’s liberty and justice has been preserved by the dedication of our armed forces. But this special day also underscores our nation’s commitment to its veterans and their families.

It is my highest duty and privilege to ensure the veterans of the First District of Tennessee are taken care of. As a fellow veteran, I honor the devotion, service and legacy our veterans have instilled on our culture, even as many often regard their own military service with modesty and humility.

When Congress returns this month for the post-election Lame Duck session, they will have the opportunity to vote on legislation that would solidify the commitment of the federal government to protecting our nation’s critically ill and injured patients in the event of a disaster or emergency. If enacted, the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act of 2011 – better known as PAHPA –  would provide the resources necessary to improve the nation’s public health and medical preparedness, streamlining the federal government’s disaster planning and strengthening national preparedness for and responses to medical and public health emergencies and disasters, whether deliberate, accidental or natural.
 
Over the past decade, multiple Congresses and administrations have worked on this challenge, and the need for augmented preparedness measures has become only more relevant in recent weeks as Americans witnessed health care systems across the East Coast contending with and withstanding the worst of Hurricane Sandy, despite high-profile breakdowns, including the evacuation of several New York City hospitals.

It is true that we have come a long way since 1981 in addressing HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). Because so little was known about the disease then, doctors and the public concluded that HIV was a gay-related disease, even calling it “gay-related immune deficiency” or GRID. More and more cases were discovered with time. By 1983, the vulnerable populations at-risk of HIV were referred to as the “4-H Club”, comprised of homosexuals, hemophiliacs, heroin addicts, and Haitians.

While it is clear that President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney disagree on the defense budget, there is an opportunity for whomever is elected to overcome partisan issues and do something for the health and well-being of military women: provide them the same access to healthcare their civilian counterparts have by allowing access to abortion care in cases of rape or incest.

Our children eat at least half of their daily calories at school. School meals can play an important role in introducing children to healthy food options, encouraging children to make healthier food choices and ensuring proper portion sizes. In 2010, a federal law called the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act set new school meals standards, and children are now seeing more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains on their cafeteria trays. Meals also include more low-fat and nonfat dairy products, and less fat and sodium. And portion sizes are based on age groups in elementary, middle and high school.

Ezra Klein is right. In a recent Washington Post column, the left-leaning policy wonk laid plain that the future of ObamaCare is at stake in next week’s elections. If President Obama wins and Democrats hold the Senate, the Affordable Care Act will survive. If Mitt Romney wins and Republicans take the Senate, the law is dead. It is the starkest of differences.
 
How likely is each scenario? At this moment Democrats have the advantage. According to Real Clear Politics, the president is running slightly ahead in six out of ten battleground states. He could actually lose seven of these, but still be reelected if he hangs onto Ohio, Wisconsin, and Iowa.

I was very disappointed to read Stephen Schneck’s recent column, which questioned Mitt Romney’s morals on the basis of his plan to return control of our nation’s Medicaid program to the states. Not only was his column extraordinarily misleading, but it was insulting to me as a fellow Catholic.
 
To be clear, I share Mr. Schneck’s commitment to serving others; after all, our faith does call us to care for “the least of these.” The difference, however, is that I fulfill my responsibility by tithing, volunteering in my community and supporting privately funded charitable organizations; I don’t believe it’s the government’s role to fulfill our responsibilities as Catholics for us.

So far this month, the American Action Network (AAN) has poured more than $10 million into ad buys in six congressional districts — part of a last-minute October spending dump explicitly aimed at preserving the Republican majority in the House this election season. AAN is a non-profit, organized under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code. What this means is the group doesn’t have to reveal its donors, or their hidden agendas, and voters have no idea where the $10 million being spent to influence their votes is coming from. It’s clear, though, that at least some of it is coming from publicly traded companies whose leaders want shareholders and customers kept in the dark about their political spending.