I Don’t Hate America!

On March 5th, an agreement was made between Gov. Tim Pawlenty and DFL leaders to extend the GAMC program that was set to end on March 31st, 2010 and would have transitioned tens of thousands of low-income Minnesotans to a more expensive MinnesotaCare plan. Although the plan will continue coverage for many, the payments are slim from the state, instead shifting much of the costs to hospitals.  According to MPR and Sen. Linda Berglin (DFL), 77% of the program’s funding from the state is being cut.  Hospitals such as HCMC will still need to deal with picking up the cost to ensure all their patients receive the appropriate care.  From an RN that works at HCMC, staff have already been facing cuts that affect patient care.  Patient to nurse ratios have now increased on medical/surgical units up to 8:1 on nights.  With less reimbursement to hospitals and a shifting of costs such as this GAMC deal, patient care will still negatively be affected until legislators pass safe patient handling bills, or increase funding to programs for the uninsured.  This will be an interesting topic to continue following in the coming months.

From Minnesota Public Radio (MPR):

GAMC deal shifts costs to hospitals, health providers

by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio, Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio

March 5, 2010

St. Paul, Minn. — Gov. Tim Pawlenty and DFL legislators have reached a deal over funding for a health insurance program for the poor.

The deal will preserve coverage for most current General Assistance Medical Care recipients, but will shift costs onto medical providers.

GAMC provides health insurance for more than 30,000 of the state’s poorest residents. The program was scheduled to end on March 31, after Pawlenty cut its funding last year to balance the state budget.

The new plan will extend GAMC for two months. Starting June 1, a new system, funded with block grants, will replace it.

Instead of paying providers for each service provided, the new plan will provide hospital-based coordinated care systems with capped block grants to provide health care to eligible residents. Most former GAMC recipients will be eligible under the new plan.

“The hope will be this will be a more efficient, comprehensive, and continuous care,” Pawlenty said in a press conference this afternoon.

DFL legislators said they’re glad to have reached an agreement, but said the plan will hurt medical providers. Sen. Linda Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis, said the plan cuts the program’s funding by 77 percent.

“The health care providers are taking a huge cut,” said Rep. Thomas Huntley, DFL-Duluth. “That makes the state budget look good, but some hospitals may collapse, and other hospitals may just raise their rates to everybody else to make up for the loss of this money, and that will be put on your insurance bill.”

The state’s General Fund will provide $71 million in capped block grants to hospital-based Coordinating Care Organizations in the current 2010-2011 budget, and $131 million in 2012-2013.

The plan also establishes a separate method to reimburse CCOs for prescription drug costs. The deal caps drug reimbursements at $45 million from the General Fund in the 2010-2011 fiscal years, and $83 million in the 2012-2013 fiscal years.

GAMC recipient Robert Fischer expressed relief that he won’t lose his coverage. Fischer, who is 51, has sleep apnea, depression, and a degenerative back condition. His only income is $203 a month from the state’s General Assistance program.

“From what I’ve heard, I’m very, very happy,” Fischer said.

Negotiators have been working on a solution for GAMC for about nine months. The plan was set to expire later this month.

“We knew when we began this endeavor nine months ago that we were going to be putting together legislation that was going to be less than lovely,” said Rep. Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul. “We were working very hard to protect the safety net for those who get their care in GAMC, and we’ve protected that commitment.”

Murphy added, “I think the safety net is a little thinner. It may be a little bit more like a lifeboat.”

The state had planned to transfer many current GAMC enrollees into another state health insurance program, called MinnesotaCare, once the program ended.

But many recipients say they would not be able to afford MinnesotaCare’s monthly premiums and higher co-payments.

Issue background:

The General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) fund is a MN healthcare program run by our Minnesota Department of Human Services (MDHS, 2009) that covers “low-income adults, ages 21-64, who have no dependent children under age 18 and who do not qualify for federal healthcare programs” (para. 1). The services offered include a comprehensive benefits package focused on preventative care and one for those who want coverage in case of an emergency hospital visit with a specific co-pay amount. A recent veto and line-item cut from MN’s budget by Gov. Tim Pawlenty took away $381 million from the GAMC (Perry, 2009). According to Share (2009), these “cuts to GAMC will leave 33,000 low-income Minnesotans without healthcare” as the labor review editor quoted the MNA.

One of the major hospitals in the Twin Cities, the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) is one of the most affected by the line-item cut to GAMC as they will lose “$43 million in 2010 and $50 million in 2011” (Newmarker, 2009, para. 5). This has forced the one in only four Level 1 trauma center’s in the state to face many program cuts as they deal with a $550 million budget compared to a $600 million one in 2009 (Newmarker, 2009). Protesting nurses do not want to be a part of potential cuts, or see vulnerable patients turned away especially as we already face issues regarding safe staffing. HCMC’s major cuts highlight how payment increases to insurers must happen in order for healthcare organizations to stay afloat. Payment increases to insurers means payment increases to their customers, the ones who pay for health insurance. This is one element of the greater healthcare reform issue that needs to be addressed as the national debate continues.

Minnesota Department of Human Services. (2009). General assistance medical care. Retrieved
on October 15, 2009, from http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/idcplg?IdcService
=GET_DYNAMIC_CONVERSION&RevisionSelectionMethod=LatestReleased&dDocName=id_006257

Newmarker, C. (2009, September 25). HCMC lists programs facing cuts. American City
Business Journals, Inc. Retrieved on October 15, 2009, from http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2009/09/28/story4.html?b=1254110400%5E2162231

Perry, S. (2009, October 1). Employment stimulus will dominate session, as well as bonding bill.
Finance & Commerce, Inc. Retrieved on October 15, 2009, from http://legal-ledger.com/item.cfm?recID=12318

Share, S. (2009, October 12). Nurses march on capitol, call on governor to restore general
assistance medical care. Workday Minnesota. Retrieved on October 15, 2009, from http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4205

By now you may have heard the news that former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman has decided against running for governor in Minnesota.

While I am glad he has decided to finally get the hint from Minnesotans and stay away for a while, I’m quite disappointed as I would have been amused by the rioting that the hardcore conservatives surely would have started had he sought the endorsement at the GOP convention.

While pundits are predicting gloom and doom for Democrats this year, let’s not kid ourselves: the Republican Party of Minnesota is still fighting for its very soul. While I predict the Tom Emmer vs. Marty Seifert floor fight to be brutal, nothing other than perhaps a Jim Ramstad gubernatorial campaign speech would have launched the convention into armageddon quicker than a Coleman candidacy.  I’m sure sentiments from party activists like this one played into Norm’s decision to not take part in a probable blood bath.

This means we need to look to the past to find controversy from a Minnesota GOP convention. Purely for the heckuvit, let’s take a trip WAY back.

Dateline: June 20, 1986 at the old St. Paul Civic Center for the Independent-Republican Party convention.  Betty Wilson in the Strib reported:

The first fight at the Independent-Republican convention in St. Paul was over signs.

On Wednesday, the day before the convention opened, gubernatorial candidate Marion (Mike) Menning’s campaign staff put up what it contends is the largest sign ever hung in the St. Paul Civic Center. It is 84 feet long and 20 feet wide, bears Menning’s name in huge white letters against a blue background and is suspended from the ceiling and facing the delegate seats.

Another Menning sign, 30 feet by 20 feet, was also hanging from the ceiling to greet delegates as they came onto the convention floor. But the Menning people were told Thursday that they would have to take it down as a compromise to placate the other candidates.

After hearing about the Menning coup, representatives of the other candidates, David Jennings and Cal Ludeman, cried foul. The convention  rules prohibited putting up signs until 9 a.m. yesterday, according to the Jennings and Ludeman representatives. Party staff members told the Menning people that one sign would have to come down as the compromise.

Menning spokesmen explained that they had to have help from the Civic Center staff in putting up the signs, and staff members said they had to do it Wednesday. Tom Dahlberg, Menning’s campaign manager, said it took eight people more than two hours to mount the larger sign.

Menning also has about 8,000 balloons in nets above the convention floor, ready to be released today when he is nominated and his supporters stage a demonstration.

As we know, those balloons never needed to leave the nets as Ludeman, now Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s human services commissioner who infamously admitted T-Paw’s veto of General Assistance Medical Care would affect the sickest of the sick and the poorest of the poor, received IR endorsement.  Maybe it was because of his stellar outreach to underrepresented groups?

Not more than 10 of the 2,082 delegates to the Independent-Republican Party convention in St. Paul are minorities, according to IR chairman Leon Oistad.

He estimated that five or six Hispanics and three or four blacks are delegates.

“We have very active black and Hispanic (affiliates) with the party,” Oistad said. “For whatever reason, not a great many of them have been elected as delegates to this convention. We’re actively trying to recruit members of minorities into the party.”

Or maybe it was because of his choice to adopt a strategy of cutting-edge political fashion statements as opposed to cutting-edge political technology?

Menning will track delegate movement between ballots tonight with the help of two personal computers in his war room and one portable computer on the floor. A laser printer is standing by to generate personal letters, five per minute, to key delegates. The computer-generated information will be passed to Menning floor leaders via walkie-talkie.

Jennings plans to use one personal computer to help him make the same effort, said volunteer Vic Ellison. But Ellison downplayed the significance of the service the computer will provide. “A computer can’t help anybody now. We’re down to one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat now,” he said.

All three campaigns have distinctive identifications for their floor leaders. District floor leaders for Jennings are wearing orange cowboy hats, and about 100 unit leaders have orange caps with visors.

Menning workers have painter’s caps with Menning’s name and are wearing pins and carrying walkie-talkies.

Ludeman’s floor leaders have straw hats with Ludeman’s name and large buttons with his picture.

After surviving all of the sign shenanigans to get the party endorsement at the convention as well as the surviving IR primary, Ludeman went on to lose to Gov. Rudy Perpich.  This year I’m confident our DFL endorsed candidate will be able to hold off whichever candidate emerges from the GOP side.  Of course, I have my own idea of who that endorsed candidate should be, but that’s a discussion for another evening: specifically precinct caucus evening, which is approaching soon on February 2nd!

The National Nurses United (NNU) updated their number of RN volunteers in the RN Response Network (RNRN) to 7,000 today.  These nurses are from all across the U.S. and are anxiously waiting for the go ahead to  to travel to Haiti for the relief effort.  The issue of course continues to be the need for funding to make this happen.  I am proud to say I am one of the 7,000 nurses waiting to go, but the NNU is still in the process of collaborating with multiple organizations while working on coming up with enough donations to start sending us.  When I eventually get to go (crossing my fingers), I promise to capture pictures, videos, and stories from the frontlines as I use my nursing skills to aid those who desperately need care.

Today, the NNU set up a “Send A Nurse” Disaster Relief Fund.  Please go to their website and donate any amount so we can start sending nurses to Haiti as soon as possible.

The Star Tribune wrote an article today about how Minnesotan’s are ready to support the relief, but barriers are keeping the help from reaching Haiti:

Across Minnesota, as a large outpouring of volunteers and aid takes shape to help Haiti, Minnesotans are worrying that they are in a race against time.

Will emergency supplies arrive fast enough to save lives? Is there a place for volunteers to sleep? Is there food and water?

Feed My Starving Children, in the Twin Cities, is scrambling to get 1 million meals to Haiti in the weeks ahead. A White Bear Lake nonprofit is rushing its director there to check on the fate of its school and orphanages. A St. Cloud bank executive is writing a check for $50,000 to spur other donations to the tragedy.

But people — even doctors, nurses and engineers — need to wait for the right time.

Food, water, and housing are in such short supply that only skilled volunteers working with large international relief organizations are welcome at this moment.

“It’s going to be very unpredictable,” said Monte Achenbach, one of two staffers from the Minneapolis-based American Refugee Committee who flew to Haiti Thursday. “The first things that need to be done are to clear the roads, clear the people trapped in the buildings and offer food, water, sanitary services — the things people are literally dying for.”

In the same article, nursing colleague and close friend Cassandra Hamilton, RN was also interviewed:

In the Twin Cities, Cassandra Hamilton was among the Minnesota nurses who responded to a call by National Nurses United to help the injured in Haiti. Hamilton is a family care nurse who works with children at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids.

“I feel like nursing is a way to give back to people,” said Hamilton, who also has volunteered in Colombia. “I feel it’s my obligation.”

A University of Minnesota bioethicist outlined what needs to happen for the Haiti relief efforts to be successful:

As urgent as it feels now, Minnesotans should realize the crisis in Haiti will be with us for a long time, said Steve Miles, a University of Minnesota bioethicist who has participated in many medical relief missions.

“What’s really needed now is food, diggers, dogs and materials,” Miles said. “The best approach right now is to send money to large organizations … that can move on a swift and large scale.”

The next phase, he said, will include erecting “MASH-style” hospitals, clinics and feeding stations, as well as massive public health services.

The final phases include the rebuilding of roads, libraries, schools, and telecommunications systems, he said. This is where Minnesotans should consider lending a hand.

The NNU held an almost hour and a half long conference call yesterday led by executive director Rose Ann DeMoro with more than 1,800 RN’s and other national callers (including the press).  This was one of the largest, if not THE largest ever conference call held by NNU or CNA/NNOC, with the purpose of outlining the current plan for nurse deployment to Haiti.  From my notes, here is what I’ve gathered for those interested in where we are at.

Disclaimer:  Every effort was made to ensure the accuracy of what was said during the conference call.  Despite being an NNU member myself, the following is not meant to represent any official statement from the organization.  Please visit their website for the latest news and for all official statements.

• Nurses have historically been extremely valuable resources during relief efforts given their multiple skills & specialties, ability to assess situations in the environment and with the patient, carry out skilled treatments, and work under difficult conditions night and day.  Nurses organized through the RN Response Network were well recognized for their work during Katrina and in Sri Lanka.
• NNU is preparing a systematic process to roll-out nurses in waves.  Miami will act as the homebase for RN’s to travel to first, before they are transported to Haiti by either air, or potentially sea travel depending on what partnerships are made.
• The first priority is SAFETY for our nurses.  We will need security set in place at all times by groups such as the military, national guard, UN, or other security groups from other countries.  We will not put our nurses at risk by going if we can’t ensure constant protection.
• RN’s need to be prepared and properly oriented before deployment.  Vaccinations need to be up-to-date due to potential exposure to many infectious diseases.  Typical exposure includes food and water-borne disease, E. Coli, typhoid fever, HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis A and B, worms, tetanus, measles, malaria, malnutrition, and dehydration for example.  Sanitation is a problem in the country, as well as clean water and shelter (we will likely have to sleep in sleeping bags and potentially on the streets).  Aftershocks are still occurring which makes it dangerous to stay in unsteady buildings.  RN’s also need to be prepared mentally and emotionally as they will see a numerous amount of trauma patients, broken bones, dead children and adults laying in the street, kids without parents, and significant pain and suffering.
• NNU is hoping for cooperation from the health insurance industry and pharmaceutical companies to offer discounts, or even free vaccinations for RN’s going to Haiti.  Some of the vaccinations take up to 2-3 weeks before they are fully effective, thus delaying immediate deployment for some.  This is another top priority for NNU so we don’t have many more delays, however.
• RN’s will also need passports, but we are hoping that the White House may be able to waive certain travel requirements based on this being declared an emergency.  This would prevent more unnecessary delays holding qualified RN’s back because lives are at risk in Haiti!

From the NNU press release related to the conference call, Rose Ann DeMoro added:

“We are asking the hospitals to provide paid time off for the nurses who wish to join this effort. We are also asking the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies to provide free vaccinations for the nurse volunteers, and others to donate medical supplies for the nurses to bring with them,” DeMoro said.

It will be very important for nurses to work with their healthcare organizations to arrange days off.  The deployment waves will likely last 7-10 days according to the conference call.  So far I’ve contacted the Allina Hospitals & Clinics, one of the largest healthcare organizations in MN and was directed to the following news post by them:

Haiti Earthquake Disaster Relief

Jan. 14, 2010

The devastation in Haiti caused by the recent earthquake has people around the world asking how they can help. Many Allina employees have asked if they can donate Paid Time Off (PTO) to disaster relief efforts, as was the case in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  Current Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations require that PTO donations of this type be taxed — however, we are hopeful the IRS will suspend this requirement soon, which will enable employees to help in this way. We will communicate the process for donating PTO to Haitian relief efforts as soon as the IRS acts.

 Additionally, Allina representatives are coordinating with relief agencies to identify a process for deploying clinical personnel, supplies and/or equipment to Haiti. We will communicate additional detail on this as plans come together.

  We know that Allina employees are anxious to help, and we will provide additional information as soon as possible.

The American Red Cross and OxFam are accepting donations for Haiti relief efforts.

Hopefully they will recognize the “Send A Nurse” Disaster Relief Fund is in need of money to send our nation’s nurses.  Additionally, this and any other healthcare organization could be recognized internationally if they work with their nurses schedules to give them time off and use the donated PTO as charity pay to RN’s who take off from work to go to Haiti.  It would be a win-win situation for everyone, especially for the lives potentially saved in Haiti.

IDHA! will continue to cover the Haiti situation and update everyone on the status of nurse deployment as well as my own hopefully soon.  Please keep checking back.

The recently formed National Nurses United (NNU) union which represents approximately 150,000 direct-care RN’s across the country has activated their volunteer RN Rapid Response Network (RNRN) in the hopes to immediately send the support of our nation’s RN’s to the disaster areas in Haiti.  The national organization, aptly named an RN “super union” became a major force when three major nursing organizations merged under the NNU umbrella in December of 2009 through a historical vote that took place in Phoenix, AZ.  These groups consisted of the 85,000 member California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), the 23,000 member Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), and the 45,000 member United American Nurses (AFL-CIO) with all their affiliates.  The NNU board consists of an elected co-president from each of the three major nursing organizations listed above, several elected vice-presidents from represented state nursing organizations, a Secretary Treasurer, and Rose Ann DeMoro who was elected executive director, a position she held while leading the CNA/NNOC since 1993.

The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) with its 20,000 members has a major stake within the national union.  A press release sent out by the NNU to their members was being circulated to all NNU affiliates yesterday including here in MN calling for volunteers to aid those in the devastation areas in Haiti.  The formal call to action press release is presented here:

Largest RN Union Issues Urgent Call for Nurse Volunteers

To Assist Earthquake Ravaged Haiti
Nurse Volunteer Group to Coordinate Emergency Nursing Mission

The nation’s largest organization of registered nurses tonight activated its nationwide disaster relief program to recruit nurse volunteers to provide assistance to residents of earthquake devastated Haiti, the National Nurses United announced Tuesday night.

Registered Nurse Response Network sent more than hundreds of nurse volunteers to the Gulf region following Hurricane Katrina. RNRN has also sent volunteers to Sri Lanka after the South Asia tsunami and to help following huge Southern California wildfires. RNRN is affiliated with National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the national union and professional association for Registered Nurses.

Details are still being worked out, but nurses can sign up at the web form that follows for more details. http://www.calnurses.org/rnrn/rnrn-volunteer-form.html. NNU will also provide follow up information at www.twitter.com/nationalnu

rses <http://www.twitter.com/nationalnurses> for details and plans.
The 150,000-member NNU was formed last month through the unification of California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, United American Nurses, and Massachusetts Nurses Association.

Through RNRN, the organization hopes to send nurses to provide emergency short term and long term medical support, as it has in previous major disasters. Following Katrina, for example, RNRN volunteers worked with local healthcare and emergency agencies and officials in mobile clinics, area hospitals, and other healthcare settings in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

“We are calling on nurses throughout the U.S. to join us in this critical effort,” said NNU Co-Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro.

“Nurses will be fundamental to the disaster relief process, to provide immediate healing and therapeutic support to the patients and families facing the devastation from this tragic earthquake,” DeMoro said.

If you are interested in donating to the National Nurses United (NNU) union of 150,000 direct-care RN’s, but more specifically to the fund for the RN Response Network (RNRN), please do so here.

According to the NNU, 1,500 RN’s have already responded in less than a day’s time to volunteer. The RNRN relief fund would help send these incredible nurses willing to to provide assistance in Haiti.  A new press release outlines information regarding a conference call for volunteering RN’s that will happen today:

National Conference Call Thursday For 1,500 RN Volunteers for Haiti Relief Effort
Press Can Dial-in or Visit Local Offices in TX, FL, MA, NV, IL, CA and DC

Nurses Issue Urgent Appeal to Public to Support Nurse Relief Efforts

More than 1,500 registered nurses from across the U.S. have responded in less than one day to the call by the nation’s largest organization of registered nurses for volunteers to provide assistance to residents of earthquake devastated Haiti —leading the RNs to now issue an urgent appeal for the public to support these efforts with donations of funds to support travel costs and medical supplies on their upcoming emergency nursing mission.

Press and nurses are invited to a conference call Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time for an overview of the efforts and their logistics, including the details on the first teams of nurses traveling to the area.  Press can call in for the briefing at (866) 320-4709 using the access code 143135, or gather with local nurses and representatives in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, Oakland, Los Angeles, and Miami.

The relief efforts are being coordinated by the Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN), a project of the 150,000-member National Nurses United (NNU), formed last month through the unification of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, United American Nurses and Massachusetts Nurses Association.  RNRN/NNU is hoping to have nurse volunteers on the ground in Haiti within the next few days and is coordinating with Haitian nurses on the effort.

Details are still being worked out, but those able to support the efforts of these nurses can get involved via:

• www.NationalNursesUnited.org to sign up to volunteer or donate
• @NationalNurses on twitter or by following: #haitiRN
• Call the RNRN hotline: 1-800-578-8225
• Support the RNRN/NNU disaster relief effort in Haiti by sending checks c/o California Nurses Foundation, 2000 Franklin St., Oakland, CA 94612. Charitable contributions will be used to pay for travel/related costs and medical supplies for volunteer RNs on their emergency nursing mission in Haiti.

RNRN sent hundreds of nurse volunteers to the Gulf region following Hurricane Katrina. RNRN has also sent volunteers to Sri Lanka after the South Asia tsunami and to help following huge Southern California wildfires. RNRN is affiliated with National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the national union and professional association for registered nurses.

“The need for help has never been so acute.  We need financial support to transport them,” said NNU Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro.  “Nurses will be fundamental to the disaster relief process, to provide immediate healing and therapeutic support to the patients and families facing the devastation from this tragic earthquake,” DeMoro said.

Follow the latest news related to NNU & RN involvement at:
http://www.twitter.com/nationalnurses
http://www.nationalnurses.united.org

Follow me as I attempt to go to Haiti:
http://idonthateamerica.com/category/jason-b/
http://twitter.com/Jason_RN
I will keep everyone updated here on I Don’t Hate America! as I am attempting to arrange to go to Haiti as part of the RNRN relief efforts.  My availability is dependent on my pleas to switch my hospital shifts which is still pending as of early Thursday, January 14th.  For those who do not know, I have a  Master’s in Nursing specializing in Leadership & Management (MSN), currently work in acute care, and am also a certified public health RN.  Please donate to the RNRN cause and/or volunteer if you are an RN able to go on such short notice.

——–

Barack Obama issued these remarks from a transcript released from The White House yesterday morning:

Remarks by the President on Rescue Efforts in Haiti
Diplomatic Reception Room

10:20 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning, everybody.  This morning I want to extend to the people of Haiti the deep condolences and unwavering support of the American people following yesterday’s terrible earthquake.

We are just now beginning to learn the extent of the devastation, but the reports and images that we’ve seen of collapsed hospitals, crumbled homes, and men and women carrying their injured neighbors through the streets are truly heart-wrenching.  Indeed, for a country and a people who are no strangers to hardship and suffering, this tragedy seems especially cruel and incomprehensible.  Our thoughts and prayers are also with the many Haitian Americans around our country who do not yet know the fate of their families and loved ones back home.

I have directed my administration to respond with a swift, coordinated, and aggressive effort to save lives.  The people of Haiti will have the full support of the United States in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble, and to deliver the humanitarian relief — the food, water and medicine  — that Haitians will need in the coming days.  In that effort, our government, especially USAID and the Departments of State and Defense are working closely together and with our partners in Haiti, the region, and around the world.

Right now our efforts are focused on several urgent priorities.  First, we’re working quickly to account for U.S. embassy personnel and their families in Port-au-Prince, as well as the many American citizens who live and work in Haiti.  Americans trying to locate family members in Haiti are encouraged to contact the State Department at 888/407-4747.  I’m going to repeat that – 888/407-4747.

Second, we’ve mobilized resources to help rescue efforts.  Military overflights have assessed the damage, and by early afternoon our civilian disaster assistance team are beginning to arrive.  Search and rescue teams from Florida, Virginia and California will arrive throughout today and tomorrow, and more rescue and medical equipment and emergency personnel are being prepared.

Because in disasters such as this the first hours and days are absolutely critical to saving lives and avoiding even greater tragedy, I have directed my teams to be as forward-leaning as possible in getting the help on the ground and coordinating with our international partners as well.

Third, given the many different resources that are needed, we are taking steps to ensure that our government acts in a unified way.  My national security team has led an interagency effort overnight.  And to ensure that we coordinate our effort, going forward, I’ve designated the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Dr. Rajiv Shah, to be our government’s unified disaster coordinator.

Now, this rescue and recovery effort will be complex and challenging.  As we move resources into Haiti, we will be working closely with partners on the ground, including the many NGOs from Haiti and across Haiti, the United Nations Stabilization Mission, which appears to have suffered its own losses, and our partners in the region and around the world.  This must truly be an international effort.

Finally, let me just say that this is a time when we are reminded of the common humanity that we all share.  With just a few hundred miles of ocean between us and a long history that binds us together, Haitians are neighbors of the Americas and here at home.  So we have to be there for them in their hour of need.

Despite the fact that we are experiencing tough times here at home, I would encourage those Americans who want to support the urgent humanitarian efforts to go to whitehouse.gov where you can learn how to contribute.  We must be prepared for difficult hours and days ahead as we learn about the scope of the tragedy. We will keep the victims and their families in our prayers.  We will be resolute in our response, and I pledge to the people of Haiti that you will have a friend and partner in the United States of America today and going forward.

May God bless the people of Haiti and those working on their behalf.

Thank you very much.

The U.S government has set up a website located at The White House Blog, Help for Haiti, which should feature regular updates from Obama and the White House staff.

Americans looking for family members in Haiti are encouraged to contact the State Department at (888) 407-4747.

The Center for International Disaster Information also set up a site with more ways for people to donate to the “Haiti Earthquake Humanitarian Emergency.”

——–

Groups that are in Haiti already, or en route include the International Medical Corps, Red Cross, Doctors without Borders, UN Peacekeepers, U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy, University of Miami School of Medicine, Oxfam International, and so many more. Hopefully the NNU will be there within a few days. Keep following their site at http://www.nationalnursesunited.org/

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is there. According to CNN who quoted this group, “the most urgent needs at this time are search and rescue, field hospitals, emergency health, water purification, emergency shelter, logistics and telecommunications.”

According to WCCO local news in the Twin Cities, MN,
MN aid group’s that are assisting include Kids Against Hunger of New Hope, Haiti Outreach of Minnetonka, Feed My Starving Children of Coon Rapids, HealingHaiti.org of White Bear Lake, World Wide Village of St. Paul, and likely many other organizations that are sending food and other sorts of aid who deserve to be recognized.

——–

From the International Medical Corps, another great medical organization that could use donations as well sent out a mailing from the frontlines in Haiti:

Dear Jason,

We arrived in Port-au-Prince this afternoon. The airport is so full of people trying to evacuate that it is difficult to find transportation into the city.

We traveled about 35 minutes by car to a hotel called Villa Creole. It is complete devastation here. Most of the city does not have electricity. Crowds of people are standing in the streets, taking care not to get too close to shaky buildings. Many in the crowds are injured, and dead bodies are lined along the roadside. Injured people are sleeping next to people who are dead. The streets are littered with cables from downed power lines, as well as cars and buses that crashed or were abandoned when the earthquake and aftershocks hit.

The hotel here has been turned into a small makeshift hospital. About 90-100 people were standing in the hotel driveway, waiting for help. We instantly began conducting triage and treating patients alongside a Haitian doctor from Hope for Haiti. Medical supplies — such as IVs, pain medicines, and bandages — are extremely limited. Most patients that we have seen so far are suffering from broken bones, fractures, and ruptures. Some are in more critical condition, but there is no hospital we can refer them to. Our team will sleep outside tonight. Like everyone else, we are afraid to sleep inside a building. The aftershocks are still coming.

If you have already sent a donation to support our emergency response team, we thank you for your compassion. If not, we hope you will join us in responding to this devastating earthquake. Your donation will help us bring in the medical personnel, supplies and equipment we need to save as many lives as possible here. Donate now.

Thank you for your support,

Margaret Aguirre
Director of Global Communications
International Medical Corps

——–

More information to come as available.  I will update after the NNU conference call with the 1,500+ RN volunteers.  The press is invited to this call as well.  Again, the information to call in is as follows from the NNU press release:

Press and nurses are invited to a conference call Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time [12:00 p.m. Central, 1:00 p.m. Eastern] for an overview of the efforts and their logistics, including the details on the first teams of nurses traveling to the area.  Press can call in for the briefing at (866) 320-4709 using the access code 143135, or gather with local nurses and representatives in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Las Vegas, Oakland, Los Angeles, and Miami.

Unless you’ve been under a political rock, you’ve likely heard there is a special election for the 26th District in the Minnesota Senate. Yes indeed, now former Sen. Dick Day resigned to lobby for Racinos, a topic long near and dear to his heart.

I spent this past Sunday doing some doorknocking for Faribault school board member and St. Olaf atomic physics professor Jason Engbrecht (DFL), and the reception was terrific.  I’m confident Jason’s tremendous knowledge of  education finance and his innovative ideas for job creation will see him to victory, but that’s not why I’m writing this post.

There are two other candidates though, and all three debated last night in Faribault. Republican candidate Mike Parry’s “misguided” postings on Twitter have been widely reported, but the Independence Party candidate and Waseca Mayor Roy Srp said something last night that bothered me.

At 9:53 of this video from the Fairbault Daily News, the question about Racinos popped up, and Srp said “I want you to know, people are afraid to talk about this. What goes on with the tribal gaming in the State of Minnesota is absolutely a crime!” What Srp references is the share of revenue the State of Minnesota gets from tribal casinos, which amounts to a just a few thousand dollars to the Department of Public Safety, mostly for inspection of the slot/poker machines.

But Roy, this isn’t a crime.  In fact, the State of Minnesota negotiated and signed compacts with the tribes as authorized by Congress starting in 1989.  Srp should feel free to take issue with those who negotiated these compacts on behalf of the state, but to use loaded words like “crime” to describe the actions of Native Americans in carrying-out their part of legal compacts is simply irresponsible. Srp continued by saying that he looks forward to Dick Day’s advocacy of the Racino in order for the state to gain leverage to get more money from the tribes.

Even Sen. Day himself explained on Paul Allen’s KFAN show on Dec. 20 that his efforts are not a result of disdain toward the tribes, as such he went no where near making criminal accusations.  Rather, it was Gov. Tim Pawlenty in 2004 who tried to take tribal gaming revenue hostage by suggesting that “other gambling options” would be explored if the tribes refused to play ball with him by renegotiating the compacts.  The tribes, as expected, flat out refused. I can’t imagine this would change much in 2010.

Let me explain further: I like spending time at Canterbury Park. There are few things I enjoy more during a nice summer day than walking around the facility, checking out the horses, making a small wager, and plopping myself close to the rail to watch an exciting race. Occasionally, I will pull up a chair at a card table.  Heck, I’ve even ran into and chatted with Sen. Day one evening over by the winner’s circle. Day, Canterbury, horsemen, and other Racino allies make very fair points to advocate their proposal, and reasonable people can debate its pros and cons.

Personally,  I question whether this is the most responsible way to fund ongoing governmental expenditures, even during a budget crisis.  I also question whether this proposal satisfies the constitutional requirements in regard to the environmental trust fund.  It’s questions such as these which should be the focus of debate about Racino or other gaming proposals, not ones which seek to stigmatize Native Americans.  While no one can question the financial success some tribes have had as a direct result of these compacts, a legislative candidate such as Srp throwing around rhetoric suggesting they are criminals (especially when, ahem, it was their land which was taken from them) should not be taken lightly.  If Srp didn’t intend to make this charge, he should be more careful with his language in public forums.  This isn’t a matter, as Mike Parry would probably suggest, of political correctness, either.  This is a matter both of law and responsible discourse.

Note: some information cited was obtained from this excellent House Research report (99 page PDF).

In the wake of both Allen Quist and Randy Demmer announcing their campaigns for Minnesota’s First Congressional District, another person has thrown his hat into the ring to face Tim Walz.

Jim Hagedorn announced today he is seeking the GOP nomination for congress.  As noted at Bluestem Prairie and Minnesota Independent, he has scrubbed some entries from his blog entitled Mr. Conservative.  Through these posts, Hagedorn shows his disdain for women, American Indians,  and gays.  While I can’t blame Hagedorn for scrubbing this content, one must ask how, by virtue of these writings, anyone can think he should be suitable for a lake advisory committee, let alone the United States Congress.

One post not displayed by Bluestem or MnIndy is so offensive it’s really difficult to read or write about, let alone comprehend how a person can be so full of hate toward another group of human beings.  Something which would be more expected on a bigoted hategroup’s website, not the blog of a candidate for Congress.

It was titled “Tolerance v. Acceptance: America Files for Divorce” and written July 13, 2004 in the wake of Massachusetts’s acceptance of marriage equality.  I don’t think I can do this any more justice with my own words (as I will likely become more ill the longer I think about how this clown is really running for congress) so below are some excerpts with screen shots. Google Cache here (for now):

And yes, they are EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE.

More so with each passing day, the June 28, 2003, Supreme Court decision in Lone Star Sodomites v. God and Country (Lawrence et al v. Texas) represents an abomination on par with the deviancy it attempted to condone.

Eighteen pages of spew, more resembling of encounter group notes than sound legal reasoning, injudiciously fisted two hundred and twenty-seven years of the Republic’s mores into the bowels of cultural debauchery.

Inexplicitly, Justices not named Rehnquist, Scalia and Thomas felt compelled to nullify a dwindling number of rarely enforced morals laws by which States, in essence, prohibited two-way traffic in tunnels constructed by God and marked by nature as “exit only.”

The now invalidated Texas statute had been applied in the prosecution of John Geddes Lawrence and Tyron Garner, “Salt and Pepper” Texans whose squealing renditions of the shocking side of AC/DC disturbed more than the peace.

The whole of the story is that barnyard noises incited Houston’s version of Mrs. Kravitz to summon authorities, presumably, so her neighbors could be hosed down by something other than each other. Police dutifully responded to the dispatcher’s call of “code 69…in progress.” In the end, the human erector set were arrested after cops, copped the copping couple “copulating” – weapons withdrawn, in hand, thankfully still loaded, regrettably cocked and primed to shoot.

Shortly after conviction, the assailants challenged the ruling, as well as the validity of laws that discouraged acts most suitably performed at a Ringling Brothers sexual version of the greatest show on earth.

[…]

Never was it imagined the nation’s highest judicial body would entertain such an open-n-shut case and then have the cheek to permit the guilty to come from behind and pull one out of their rears, to use a sports metaphor. Even though the defendant’s line-of-reasoning gave new meaning to the term “oral argument,” the ins-and-outs of the judicial process were exposed as penetratingly confounding. The case confirmed to experts and laymen alike that the “Law Is A Ass,” or as the legal letches of MANBLA now whisper to fresh meat: ass IS the law.

Butt (sic) never have winners lost so dearly. The Court’s voyage into uncharted, untreated cultural bathhouse waters was designed to offer a gentle push from behind…to generate a small skip forward for the pink triangle class…to throw them a bone, so to speak.

[…]

Yet, the sodomy upshot and subsequent Massachusetts ruling proclaiming the right of literally every Tom, Dick and Harry to marry has severely accelerated the battle of culmination that must be waged and won before homosexuals can achieve normalcy in our civilized society. A fight they will surely now lose, as the issue transitions from sexual adventures to the sacrament of marriage; and the field of battle shifts from the chambers of unelected judges appointed by the likes of Michael Dukakis to the halls of the United States Congress and State legislatures.

So, Mr. Hagedorn, First District GOP delegates have to decide now which is more offensive: the fact that you think this way about people, or that you think you should be able to run for the United States Congress thinking this way.  I don’t envy them.

[SHORT UPDATE] As Sally Jo just pointed out:

In an interview with MPR, Hagedorn cited his sense of humor as one of his assets in the campaign. Really?

And earth to Gregg Peppin: Really? This guy? Really???

[End Update]

What Bluestem Prairie first reported this weekend became official this morning: state Rep. Randy Demmer from Hayfield will once again seek the GOP nomination to take on Congressman Tim Walz.

For those of of you with short memories, he already tried this once and failed to secure the endorsement against (surpressing laughter) Brian (so hard not to laugh…) Davis (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!).

While we here at IDHA had a ton of fun with Davis that campaign, we did have some fun at the expense of Demmer as well.

Come on! Who doesn’t love Press Your Luck?!  Ah, the good ole days.

So, anyway, Demmer is giving it another shot, this time vying for the GOP nomination with Allen Quist.  While Demmer wasn’t sure if he would abide by the party endorsement, we can only hope that he and Quist will wage a bruising primary with each candidate trying to call for more expanded waterboarding than the other and calling for elimination of more government programs than the other, eventually resulting in one candidate proposing that we close all the federal highways and travel on horseback. Because that would be really following the constitution, right?

Well, we wish Rep. Demmer the best of luck.  Because after all, in this economy it’s tough to retire $135,150 in outstanding campaign debt from 2008 with a single happy hour, bean feed, hog roast, picnic in the park, weenie roast, chili cook-off, fish fry, mini-golf outing, spaghetti dinner, boat cruise, pancake breakfast or pizza party.

Yes, that figure is for real: $135,150; how’s that for deficit spending? Let’s hope Randy is able to use each of these venues to not only retire his debt, but wage a competitive endorsement campaign as well.

I went over to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Bloomington, MN this morning as Robert Erickson (seen here previously as he punk’d Ruthie Hendrycks and Sue Jeffers at their tea party) and some others attempted to voluntarily submit themselves for deportation.

As self-described “illegal European immigrants,” did the fine folks at Immigration and Customs Enforcement send them back to “where they came from?”

Watch the video to find out!

Update: there’s more: check out the video from Bluestem Prairie and TC Indy Media here.

As mentioned over at Bluestem Prairie, I went over to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Bloomington this morning as Robert Erickson (seen here previously as he punk’d Ruthie Hendrycks and Sue Jeffers at their tea party) and some others attempted to voluntarily submit themselves for deportation.

When visited by self-described “illegal European immigrants,” did the fine folks at Immigration and Customs Enforcement send them back to “where they came from?” Come back to IDHA later today to see the full video!

After viewing Bluestem Prairie’s coverage of Allen Quist’s announcement that he will be the GOP candidate for Congress against Tim Walz, I have one thing to say:

Sally Jo, you should know that Quist prefers “fisherman” to “angler.”

From a February 8, 1986 story in the Star Tribune about a bill on the horizon to modify state statues to be gender neutral:

Some critics are frowning because the changes occasionally twist normal usage. “My objection is that apparently the changes have not been based on usage,” said Rep. Allen Quist , IR-St. Peter. “You cannot change the language by authoritative decree.”

One that particularly irks Quist is “fisherman.” Said Quist : “I said, `Look, I’m an avid fisherman. I go to fishing clinics … and I’ve never in my whole life seen or heard the word `fisher.”‘ He said his office dictionary defines “fisher” as “an animal (with) four legs and a tail” that is related to the weasel and is found in North America.

“Angler” might be a good compromise if it weren’t for the fact that it means one who fishes with a hook - thereby not addressing those who fish with nets.

When the bill came to the floor just over two weeks later, instead of accepting that the times were-a-changin’, Quist took the logical route of being a pain in the ass by introducing countless tedious floor amendments. From the February 25, 1986 Strib:

For close to three hours Monday, the Minnesota House pondered whether “airman” should be “aviation worker.” It debated whether “repairman” should be “repairer.” It questioned whether “sportsman’s license” should be “sporting license.”

In the end, after wading through at least 20 proposed amendments, the House passed a bill that would eliminate sexual bias from the laws of Minnesota. The vote was 102 to 19.

“I didn’t expect anything near this,” said Rep. David Bishop, IR-Rochester, the author of the changes. “Nobody expected this to be boiled down to a floor fight with 20 amendments.”

[…]

Many of the amendments were offered by Rep. Allen Quist  , IR-St. Peter, who complained that the bill sacrificed normal word usage in order to make the changes. “The bill hits the common folk usage of language  right in the teeth,” he said.

The changes even brought in the profamily lobby. Quist , who said profamily supporters backed him on the issue, said the changes removed the words “father” and “mother” from the laws along with the words “husband” and “wife.”

Bishop said he knew of no instance where the words “father” and “mother” were changed and only two instances where “husband” and “wife” were changed. “This is not a profamily issue,” said Bishop. “This is not intended to be ideology changes.”

Quist said he found the words “husband” and “wife” deleted on one page alone. “What’s wrong with the word `husband’? What’s wrong with the word `wife’?” he asked.

As the House members favoring the amendment that restored “husband” and “wife” were asked to stand, Rep. K.J. McDonald, IR-Watertown, stood and turned to his colleagues and said: “Come on, you male chauvinists, get up.”

Added Rep. Ralph Kiffmeyer, IR-Big Lake: “These words are real crucial to the foundation of our society.” The House voted to restore “father” and “mother” to the statutes - although whether they were ever taken out remained unclear - and voted to replace “husband” and “wife” in the two instances.

Just another instance of why Allen Quist would be one stinky fish for the First District.