Dear citizens all,

     What do you want our Congressional Representatives, here Tulsi Gabbard but also Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, to do, to focus on in May 2017?

     I want them to focus on, to address specifically, Congressional appointment of a special prosecutor with power of subpoena to pursue and to publish the findings of grounds of impeachment and possible criminal indictment of President Donald J. Trump.

     I am very concerned that our top intelligence agencies' conclusion with a high degree of confidence that Russia interfered in our 2016 elections to further Trump's election prospects and to undermine confidence in our democracy is not being adequately pursued in the four Congressional probes underway, largely because they are partisan led and are re-focusing on leaks and on Secretary Clinton, as requested by President Trump.

     Does that not deserve extensive non-partisan investigation for the sake of the country and our democracy?  We need to prevent such efforts continuing in the U.S. and as a Russian tactic to undermine NATO, the EU and the U.S.   The same tactics have been underway as well in France, Austria, the UK, and a Nordic country.

      Treason is at issue if there was collusion of his Presidential campaign with the government or intelligence organs of Russia to influence the outcome of the U.S. 2016 elections.  The direct financial benefits to his campaign manager Manafort, to Trump's National Security Advisor Flynn, and a dozen others affiliated with the campaign form a pattern that is worth pursuing; we need a public accounting.

     Then there are Mr. Trump's in-your-face and persisting violations of the U.S. Constitution's emoluments clause, the suspiciously timed approval of Chinese trademarks for Ivanka Trump's branding while she is working in the Oval Office and while the President of China was visiting, among many other questions about business and financial issues, such as the Pennsylvania Avenue Trump hotel now being used by foreign dignitaries who want to see Mr. Trump.

     I do feel our country is at risk when a president and an adversary try to undermine and intimidate the free press, the judiciary, and human and civil rights, in multiple ways.

     But this is a blog post meant to elicit your views and hopefully enlist your support in speaking with our representatives on this issue, which I consider fundamental.  Impeachment won't happen unless the electorate demands it.

     Your views?

Michael
Michael A. Ceurvorst
d16-2 precinct president


     When Tulsi came to Kauai for her Town Hall at the War Veterans Center, I took notes and spoke with her at the end of the event.  We have spoken many times before.



     My notes below are for reference, recall, and editing.  Missing are ACLU rep Susan Storm's apt question on impeachment and Tulsi's answer that Pence might be worse but she is investigating impeachment because it is something being looked at in several circles.

For a lengthy if rambling overview including both research and journalistic persistence, see Evan Osnos' article in the current New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/08/how-trump-could-get-fired.
Osnos has been writing about Trump for a long time.  He also mentions American University historian Alan Lichtman's new book, meant as an "how-to" for impeachment.

     Others, such as Kauai Indivisible's Lee Ann Spencer, felt Tulsi's answers, while noddingly right, were too generalized and didn't provide enough specific how-to's in moving forward.

John Zwiebel has a number of useful links and comments I invite him to post here.

Tulsi

The Veterans War Memorial was jam packed.  Tulsi did an initial and intentionally short presentation on herself, her committee assignments, and an update re North Korea as a threat to Hawaii, then opened it up for about an hour of Q&A.  Sheets of red and green construction paper were divided and handed to audience members with the instruction, if you agree with what Tulsi is saying, hold the green up. If you disagree, hold the red up.  Q's were submitted in writing and were allowed from the floor, but there were dozens of questions and only about a dozen got asked and answered, ranging from 

-- her moral compass as a Democrat, [she had no ready answer to the questioner who had voted first for Harry Truman]

-- to Syria visit with Assad and her opposition to wars of regime change, 

--  Bridget Hammerquist's protect-our-waters against the industrial dairy, EPA decimation [reply started with malama aina and to care for, not to use and amuse and ended with "water is life and we cannot forget that'],  

--  to exploitative monopolistic Hawaiian Airways [answer included a HI AL bill she cointroduced to exempt two places from extra taxes that will be put on airline tickets under the designation already enjoyed under "essential air services designation'], 

--  Ray Catania supporter of unionizing asked her stance on HR785, a national right-to-work law meant by GOP to cripple and even eliminate unions [answer:  Tulsi strongly defends and believes in the right of collective organizing and bargaining and so opposes HR 785]

-- Education.  Trump and Ryan budget proposals that would, under DeVos, end all support for teacher education and development entirely and end all funds for after school services [Answer: a real slap in the face to educators and would hurt the very people most in need.  Tulsi referred here as she had elsewhere to touring with Bernie Sanders and education as a right... lots of cheers. Tulsi referred to a very good bipartisan education bill passed the house in 2016 which teachers unions supported but that got killed.  She hopes to bring it back "our responsibility to keiki is not a partisan issue" more cheers]

--  prison reform and juvenile sentencing [Answer:  needs to be part of the entire criminal justice reform, enlisting federal, state and local cooperation.  Current Congress efforts do not address root cause, we need to seek ways to divert juveniles from criminal system. The decriminalization of marijuana at the federal level has not occurred, and while the GOP wants to build more prisons, there are marijuana possession arrests in the U.S. every 43 seconds, ruining so many lives.  Tulsi cited a doctor who said he has never in his 20+ years of practice handled a single life-threatened mj overdose but he handles so many alcohol-related life-threatening cases.  Something is wrong with that, so she is working on removing mj from the fed. designation as a class 1 controlled substance.

--  Russian involvement in Trump campaign and 2016 elections:  [Yes, transparency necessary, must pursue to get to bottom of this.  Must get disclosure of Trump's financial interests.  She's co-introduced legislation to require Pres. to submit annual disclosure of financial interests statements as members of Congress now do.]

--  Medicare for all?  [Yes, her support of Sanders again invoked, again more cheers.  Plus, need to address, in connection with immigration reform, shortage of health care providers, esp. in rural areas, and she backs legislation allowing importation of Canadian prescription drugs that had been forbidden by previous GOP legislation, and must allow Medicare to bargain for Rx drugs.  Health care is a fundamental right.  More cheers]

-- James Armstrong thanked her for votes to keep us out of wars and then focussed on ongoing problems in VA care, citing 22 suicides a day, long wait times, etc. [Tulsi touted VA Accountability Act giving VA Administrator the power to fire and remove bad actors at VA at any level, including the top, and to prevent them from getting bonuses, as now happens, unless issues clarified. Wrong for us not to care for returning fighters. Efforts to provide more care, including for "invisible wounds" when vets return, and she is working for that.

-- Restoration of Glass-Steagall and cutting out or weakening CFSB? [Tulsi:  this is my sixth town hall and the first time this important question has been raised:  She thinks Dodd-Frank needs some tweaks but not abolition, is completely for restoration of Glass-Steagall safeguards/separation, sees needs to keep consumer finance protection.  Does see negative effects of current law on community banks whereby small banks have had to increase compliance officer employees from 2 to 50, in one instance, and thus carry a burden that the big banks easily absorb.  T says there are greater risks now than before with Wall Street remaining unchecked and receiving handouts, unlike the community-based banks. An add-on note:  This is not just a GOP issue.  Too many of her colleagues in the Finance Committees, both Dems and Republicans, seem beholden to financial industry, tied to Wall Street handouts -- she used slightly different words but that was clearly the msg -- so we need the public/grass roots to make their interests clear. 

-- Should Jones Act from the 1920s be repealed as it contributes to huge costs for shipping things to HI? [Tulsi understands the question but still supports Jones Act as relevant now because its fundamental purpose of ensuring a merchant marine available in crises and in war by becoming part of the USN is still a real need, and the Jones Act does support smaller shippers and keeps them going

-- Thank you for "Stop Arming the Terrorists" Bill  [T submitted that with cosponsors because she realized we are funding fighting the terrorists -- Al Qaeda and ISIS are real terrorists who intend to harm and try to harm the US and we need to defeat them -- while at the same time through CIA and others we are funding and arming groups in Syria and elsewhere that are working with or directly part of Al Qaeda and ISIS.  It makes no sense once you realize the contradictions.  Some cheers.]

-- Coalition building? [When in 2013 T. won her Congressional seat and realized how poisonous the partisanship was, she said she asked herself

 "what could I do to carry with her the spirit of aloha and to increase the chances of cooperative work on common problems. I thought I should not overthink this.  So I called my Mom.  Mom, could you make me 435 little boxes of your secret macadamia-nut chocolates? Not even I have that recipe.  She won't give it up. 

 When I explained to her why, she said, OK, honey.  I'll do that. 

Mom, I need them next week.

OK,honey.

Mom, that's not all. Can you also make 435 BIG boxes?  That's for their staffs.

OK, honey.  It will take me a little longer.

So Mom got two big pots going and stirred two pots at a time.  I did a hand-written note with each one, saying something simple like, this is a bit of aloha from Hawaii, a spirit of openness.  I would like to work together.  Within three days we had even senior Republican leaders crossing the aisle and asking where the Hawaii rep with the candies was.  Many said they had eaten the whole box themselves and they needed another one to take home to their spouse.  And oh, what were Hawaii's needs in finance, from those on that committee, or transport....  

So it is not complicated to reach out.  That is a beginning of coalition building, so important now.

Governor Ige and Hawaii Healthcare

At last night’s meeting, Governor Ige was asked what his plan was to implement single-payer healthcare for Hawaii when the Republican’s in Washington repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  He said he is not concerned since he “assumes" that HMSA will just carry on as they did before the ACA providing insurance for “most” in Hawaii.  (All those who are satisfied with their HMSA policy under the ACA please raise your hand.)

Healthcare for “most” is not good enough.  Hawaii needs healthcare for all.  When the food service worker at your favorite restaurant gets a cold, he still has to come to work, exposing you to his illness.  Healthcare must be available for everyone and the best way to do this is through a single-payer system that is financed through taxes.  Yes, your taxes will go up, but if you no longer need to pay $1000/month in health insurance premiums for your family.

People seem to misunderstand what “single-payer” means.  In its simplest form, it is “Medicare for All”.  All as in everyone.  Employers will be relieved of the burden of having to provide health insurance.  Citizens will no longer have to worry about changing jobs and losing health insurance.  Doctors will no longer have to deal with the inconsistent administrative procedures of several different organizations.  Procedures which are set up to keep you, the patient, from getting the care you need.  (Remember Sarah Palin’s “death panels”?  Why do you think the CEOs of health insurance companies made an average of $5.4M in 2014.  They don’t get paid to “waste money” providing you with care.)

Medicare has overhead costs of a mere 3% (some studies say only 2%).  Insurance company overhead is 17%.  In other words, that insurance CEO's exorbitant salary is (as Tony Soprano would say) “the vig” skimmed off the top while his company provides you with an inferior product.  Republicans are lying when they say that allowing insurance polices to be sold across state lines will increase competition and drive down costs.  The credit card industry was deregulated in that way, are you familiar with the up to 25% interest rate on your monthly balance?

The United States is the only advance country in the world that does not employ a single-payer system.  The Republican claim that the “United States has the best healthcare in the world” is only true if you have so much money you can buy your own doctor.  A single-payer system does not prevent the extremely wealthy from continuing to do just that.  Nor does a single-payer system set up a National Health Service.  Rather it allows for true competition in the market place since the single-payer system will, as Medicare does (when Congress allows it to), be able to negotiate with multiple providers to get the best care at the least cost.

The Hawaii Health Authority (HHA) was set up to propose a way for Hawaii to move to a single-payer system.  Governor Ige was given several opportunities to explain his opposition to the HHA, he wiffed.

All in all, it was an extremely disappointing event.

Finding your State Representatives and contacting them

Are you "mad as hell and not going to take it anymore"?  Or maybe you would just like to propose a good idea but you don't know who to tell it to.  Finding who your state representatives are is really easy using the Hawaii State Legislature web site and entering your street name in the box at the top right hand corner.  Once you find them, you can:

• get their contact information to email, phone or send them a postcard,
• follow these simple instructions to submit testimony about bills before the legislature.
• find which bills have a hearing scheduled.
• discover the status of bills you are interested in.
• determine whether or not your representatives voted the way you wanted them to.

The State Legislature web site looks confusing at first, but after a few minutes you will be glad you signed on.  Representative Democracy only works when those being represented know what their representatives are doing.

Consider the bill you are contacting your state representatives about, you may also want to send an email to the Kauai County Council or just cc: them.

Submitting Testimony to the Hawaii Legislature

President Trump has surely made life hectic, even at the State Government Level.  The "Repeal and Replace" of the Affordable Care Act puts all of our health care options in serious jeopardy.  The Hawaii Healthcare Authority was established in 2009 to research how best to provide Healthcare to Hawaii, however, today in 2017, the State Legislature is considering defunding the Authority at a time that Hawaii needs it most.  There are several options for contacting your State Legislature, but one of the easiest is to do it through the Legislature's web site.  You can use the following instructions  to submit testimony for any bill before the Legislature.

1. Go to the Hawaii Legislature web site
2. Sign-in or create an account.  You will need to provide a real email address
3. Click on the "Submit Testimony" button in the middle of the page
4. Enter the Bill you want to testify for.  In this case type in "HB100"
5. Fill in the form with your position on the bill.

As an example, I submitted this for HB100.  

President Trump and the Republican Congress have promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It is a huge question whether or not they will actually replace it with something that will provide insurance for most Americans. In 2009, Hawaii established the Hawaii Health Authority to research how the state might provide a single-payer Healthcare for all. The state legislature is now considering whether or not to fund the HHA in the annual budget (HB100). If you get your health insurance from the health exchange, there is an excellent chance that you will not be able to buy any comprehensive or affordable health insurance in 2018. If you are on Medicare, there is an excellent chance your benefits will be cut and/or your premiums will go up. If you are on Medicaid you should have even more incentive to take action. When the Federal government fails us, the State of Hawaii must stand up.

Simple.  Even easier than calling your representative!

Join the Resistance! Sunday, 26 February, State Building Lihue

Make your voice heard!  The strange and fearful phenomenon Mr.  Trump brings to our values, our well being,  our country and its Constitution requires us to resist resoundingly and to reframe the options.       In consonance with other Recess Resistance events across the United States and participation of Our Revolution,  Kauai Indivisible, Hawaii for Bernie and the Democrats of Kauai precinct 16-2, let's show resistance and work toward Progressive Values including: Healthcare for all; promising to save Medicare and Medicaid; and expanding Social Security.      Join the resistance this Sunday, February  26, from 2 to 3 p.m., starting at the State Building in Lihue, talking story and listening to a few short speeches (2 minutes each) from whoever wants to share concerns about our country's identity and future.       We will then proceed to the County Courthouse and conclude after brief "open mike" comments and a song (song ideas and singers welcome!).      Please RSVP to majchk@gmail.com and cc: our d16-2 secretary at psgegen@hotmail.com. Maps available here on the Our Revolution web site  You may also RSVP on the Our Revolution site.

Democratic Betrayal? Pick a new DNC chair!

Rex Tillerson was confirmed as Secretary of State yesterday (Wednesday 1 Feb).  Tillerson is the CEO of Exxon and denies Climate Change.  Can there be any better example of how America is being turned into fiefdoms for the benefit of those who already have more than the rest of us combined?

There were 4 Democrats who voted for Tillerson: Warner from Virginia, King from Maine (who is actually an independent), Heitkamp from South Dakota and Manchin from West Virginia.  Since the Republicans have a 2-vote majority in the Senate and Tillerson (apparently) would have been confirmed without these Senators, Democrats must ask themselves about "what do we do about this."

Do you insist that the Democratic Party remain united against Trump -- no matter what, or do you give these 4 Senators a break recognizing that they voted for confirmation because stopping Tillerson was a "lost cause" (the confirmation was "going to happen", so why vote against it)?

Is this a time to "cleanse"the Democratic Party?  It is often suggested that DINOs (Democrats in Name Only) should be pushed out of the party.  The group Justice Democrats thinks so:

The solution is not unity with the corporate-backed Democrats. The solution is to challenge them and replace every single one of them with people who will fight for voters, not donors. It’s time to rebuild the Democratic Party from scratch to be a party that fights for a clear progressive vision.

The problem is, how do you identify these "corporate-backed" Democrats.  Would that include Corrie Booker from New Jersey who is currently being chastised for protecting the drug companies?  Some have suggested that Tulsi Gabbard fits the DINO category because of her trip to Syria where she met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

It is easy to let the anger we have about the failures of the Democratic Party cause us to want to "clean house", I surely feel it.  But, we need to concentrate on our common foe, Donald Trump.  Today (2 Feb), we are on the verge of a great victory, IF we can get one more vote against the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary.

The direction the Democratic Party will take depends on who is elected as the chairman of the DNC.  The DNC is having 4 "Unity Sessions" that can be viewed on the Democrats web site.  They are 8 hours long and so quite boring.  The candidates for DNC chair participated in a debate sponsored by the Huffington Post.  They are:

• Sally Boynton Brown, Idaho Democratic Party Executive Director, President of Association of State Democratic Executive Directors
• Ray Buckley, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair, Association of State Democratic Parties Chair
• Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend, IN
• Keith Ellison, U.S. Representative (MN-5)
• Jehmu Greene, Fox News Political Analyst
• Jaime Harrison, South Carolina Democratic Party Chair
• Tom Perez, secretary of Labor.

The DNC members will vote for the new chair at the end of February.  If you prefer one of the above, let them know.  Better yet, you are invited to send the 16-2 president an email with how you would rank each of the above candidates.  Or leave comments below.

Hooray for Party reforms and the DNC chair, other issues

Hooray!  very glad to see the d16-2 blog in action!   Come, let us reason together - or at least share!

Imagine Joy suggests a conversation about super-delegates as a step in reforming our house.

Of more immediate concern to me is the election of the Democratic National Chairperson around February 23, and getting our views informed and preferences rank-ordered so we can be the change we want.

I would dearly love to gain input on rank-ordering d16-2 membership preferences for DNC-chair so we can build that out within our Congressional delegation, our DNC Committee persons, and our state and county party organs.  Maybe that is a separate reposting of candidates' names and the four websites for candidates?    I myself am undecided, largely among Ray Buckley, Keith Ellison, and Perez, but we should dialogue!

Several Basic ideas for reforming our party:
--  Overall focus:  We cannot reclaim legislative or executive branches without a fifty-state strategy and engaging in every state.
--  Money:  Fund-raising cannot be the focus of every questionnaire or action from a Democratic candidate.   Bernie is right and Barack is right:  it's grass roots and broad participation that change things.  Money raised should be money equally spent on building the party steadily for at least a decade so we re-identify as a national and local party, rural and urban, young and old.
--  Accountability:  we need intra party transparency on where the money goes and how it is divvied up.
--  Campaign finance reform has been killed repeatedly by GOP.  We need leadership that pledges to fight for that until the battle is won, otherwise the Sheldon Adelson and Kochs and other billionaires will continue to buy the Congress and state houses they want.
--  Refreshing the leadership so we have bridges and backbencher at every level.  Lots of issues here, but those who get involved end up as officers and they end up as delegates, etc., which is a selection via who-can-and-will volunteer as much as by elections.

I'll stop, but yes, read Jane Mayer's Dark Money, listen to Hidden Brain blog's The Deep Story this week, but most of all, we need to think for ourselves and share.

And thanks John and anyone else instrumental in birthing the blog.