|
Comment on this article |
View comments |
Email this Feature
|
|
News :: Protest Activity |
|
Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
Current rating: 0 |
by Ben Grosser
Email: grosser (nospam) uiuc.edu (unverified!) |
12 May 2003
|
|
Over 80 local citizens picket Senator Winkel's office urging him to vote YES on HB 211 which mandates contraceptive coverage as a part of health insurance. |
|
Over 80 local citizens turned out at Illinois Senator Rick Winkel's office today to urge him to vote yes for House Bill 211. House Bill 211 mandates that health insurance providers include coverage for women's prescription contraceptives.
After picketing on the street for nearly an hour, representatives of the group hand delivered a letter --urging that Winkel vote yes on HB 211--signed by everyone in attendance to the Senator's office. Upon finding that the Senator was not in, they subsequently called Winkel's Springfield office and everyone present vocalized their views.
More photographs of this event can be seen at:
http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/people/grosser/photo/hb211/
|
| |
See also:
http://www.ucimc.org/newswire/display/11794/index.php
|
Related stories on this site:
Contraceptive Coverage Legislation Passes Illinois Senate
|
Comments
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Allison
amjones3 (nospam) uiuc.edu (verified) |
Current rating: 5
13 May 2003
|
Its about time!!
End gender discrimination! |
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Megatron
srcosmo (nospam) yahoo.com (unverified) |
Current rating: -1
14 May 2003
|
|
What the heck does this have to do with gender discrimination? |
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: -3
14 May 2003
|
Is there anything in this world that you folks are willing to pay for out of your own pocket? Take some personal responsibility and earn the money yourselves.
Jack |
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Dan Chambers
dschambers77 (nospam) hotmail.com (verified) |
Current rating: 23
14 May 2003
Modified: 04:31:21 PM |
Hey Jack, I've got a great idea! And it's really, really, really fair. Let's have the U of I continue to cover Viagra for their old male workforce, and not cover contraception! That's fair, don't you think?
Look Jack, people do pay for medical services, and this one is a no-brainer for most folks. If the University is willing to cover real lifestyle drugs like Viagra, they should be willing to cover birth control. Most employers do. This isn't a lefty conspiracy. The University is right now continuing to give raises in the thousands of dollars to top administrators during a hiring freeze (and actual layoffs), they continue to raise the costs of parking, and over 2800 academic professionals have gone 2 years without a raise.
Believe me, they've paid in full.
In addition, despite not having enough funds to cover this basic human medical need (unless you think people just shouldn't be engaging in that kind of activity, married or not) the U of I somehow found enough dough to bring on a new basketball coach. But that's just a necessity, I guess.
Your assertion that the folks who rightly demand this coverage aren't earning it somehow wouldn't hold up in most employment situations I am familiar with. The U of I is not a mom and pop donut shop. It receives billions each year from federal, state, and corporate funds. It can afford this, if it wants to. Just like child care for students and employees, it is an issue the U of I has been dodging for years.
By the way, I left my actual name and actual email address. If you have any other questions on the issue, feel free to contact me there. |
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 1
14 May 2003
Modified: 10:09:21 PM |
Dear Dan,
This may not surprise you, but I am not for the coverage of Viagra either. Although, a case could be made that impotence is a medical condition and should be treated as such. (Ask Anon) It is not a life or death situation. I think you will agree that one must have food to survive, why is that not covered? I hesitate to use that as an example as the lefties will jump on that too.
Suppose that in order in to have sex, it required an expensive dinner and a movie. Should we mandate that health insurance cover that too? The point is, that people continue to demand more and more for health coverages and demand state mandated coverages and then wonder why the price continues to go up. As an employer, it is very difficult to ask employees to contribute more for thier health insurance, retain them, and remain competitive in the market place. I realize that as a public institution, you do not have such worries. However, put yourself in the shoes of a company president who must ask who it is that is going to be let go in order to keep their health insurance for the rest of the workers. Believe it or not, these are real questions that employers must ask themselves each day.
As for the Basketball coach, I am pretty sure that Webber struck a deal that was about $ 500,000/year as opposed to Self's $ 900,000/year salary. So the U of I actually saved about $ 400,000/year on a sport that brings in millions to the University. That is called a good business decision. That will help in your title 9, that mandates that women should have an equal opportunity to participate in sports as the men. The fact that they have to eliminate men's opportunities in order to achieve this balance when men's sports bring in the overwhelming amount of the revenue, sickens me. This is liberalism in its purist form. In an effort to help someone, you must first punish someone else.
As for the top of line professors getting raises in order to retain them, I am all for it. If you do not find yourself in that position, perhaps you should strive to be them. It's called the free market. The better the teachers, the more students who will want to attend and thus the price for tuition can be increased and the wages of the people who support them can go up.
My suggestion to you, is to use a condom if you must or pull out prior to seeing the fireworks. If not, then I suggest you find the means by working a little harder to get obtain what you need.
Your Good Friend,
Jack
|
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by bfd
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
14 May 2003
|
|
What the hell. As far as I'm concerned, it isn't a moral thing - I'm a libertaian; get freaky with whomever you please, so long as it's consentual and safe - but it amazes me the length that you all will go to to make a political statement for the sake of making one. You'll take the time and effort to organize a political rally when it would be so much easier to go to the drug store and buy yourself the 64-count Oncor 2-pound-I-don't-wan't-to-have-a-family-sized pack of jimmies? Save everyone else the expense. Lazy sots. |
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Dan Chambers
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 8
16 May 2003
Modified: 10:15:30 AM |
Jack,
To respond to your post:
1. I am still waiting for your post on your outrage at the U of I for covering Viagra as a lifestyle drug. Ditto BFD.
2. The money that's raked in by the sports wing of the University stays in that wing. None of the rest of the U of I sees much of that dough. If any of it goes to title 9 programs, then that's fine by me. It still doesn't justify the hideous salaries that most of the coaches make. There is no free market for coaching talent. Plenty of good talent works for small-market teams, so just save it.
3. Slightly off topic, but not really, the top pay folks are not professors. If they were getting paid, it would be about time; but since most are adjuncts (latin for higher education wage-slave) they're getting hosed big-time in the benefits and salary department. Nope, the people I'm talking about are upper administrators who received an average of 12% raises in the 2002 budget year. Hey, there was even enough green to spread around to retired chancellor Mike Aiken; he got $14,000!
4. This brings me back to my point about priorities. Funding health care for its workers is not a priority; pumping $100 million of state funds into the Post Genomics Research Institute is. Funding child care for students and workers; not in the cards. Sorry. Giving Steve Veazie, lead counsel for the U of I a $26,000 raise is far too important. Giving cost of living raises to the employees not covered by collective bargaining is a pipe dream. However, lobbying for another $120 million in building bonds is definitely very important. Very.
Take care,
Dan
For more info:
www.uiucaap.org |
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: -1
16 May 2003
Modified: 05:00:22 PM |
Dear Dan,
I have no connection to the U of I except that I happen to enjoy the sporting events. Why would I be outraged about the Viagra decision? I can see a clear distinction however, as impotence is usually caused by a medical condition. In some cases in may be caused by stress. Anon, can you jump in here.
In anycase, they only get about 4 pills a month. Confidentially, that would not even constitute a good weekend in the Ryan household.
What perplexes me about you folks is that you all seem to think everyone else in this world must pay for your choices. Where does this demanded dependancy come from? It is certainly not what America was founded on.
If you are that unhappy with jobs at the U of I, quit, get a new job, (Perhaps a Basketball Coach)or better yet start your own company. No one is forcing you to work under these conditions and quite frankly, as we slowly climb out of the Clinton recession, there are plenty of people who would be grateful to work at the U of I in your place.
It's a simple matter of supply and demand.
Regards,
Jack |
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by John Hilty
jhilty (nospam) shout.net (unverified) |
Current rating: 8
16 May 2003
Modified: 07:16:12 PM |
No, it's about making preventive birth control more
available and affordable to more people so that there are
fewer unnecessary births in this world -- and the social
and financial costs of those extra births can be sky high,
not only to the parents, but everyone else in society.
In an overpopulated world, it's stupid not to make
preventive birth control as affordable and widely available
as possible. Furthermore, where preventive birth control
is unaffordable or unavailable, it seems to me that this
would tend to increase the number of abortions.
|
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Dan Chambers
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 8
16 May 2003
|
Jack,
To address your points again;
1) I don't work at the U of I; I'm a labor organizer working with people who do. Even if I had absolutely no connection to the University, I would still smell this rat.
2) To address the point about having others pay for "my" choices I'll bring up some other things that I pay for that I have yet to hear you shout from the rooftops about. Public subsidies of Cargilll, ADM, Ford, GM, and Monsanto; all of which cost the government far more than mere universal health care coverage. How about the way we paid to bail the Bush family (oh brother Neil, you're not forgotten) to get out of the Savings and Loan scandal? What about, I dunno, the way we're paying for Halliburton to clean up the mess we made in Iraq, and to pump its oil, and distribute it, and pay our vice president (still!). Or how about the way the U of I conducts research in agriculture, medicine, and computer science for your precious free market at the expense of Joe Q. Taxpayer? The internet? Wouldn't exist except for heavy government subsidy. Still waiting for your outrage. Waiting. Waiting.
See, the birth control thing is one of those costs that would actually help people. Usually that's when free marketeers get bent out of shape. Not when we're wasting billions on another defense plant somewhere, or paying Dwayne Andreas' bills, or even when we're bailing another Fortune 500 company. Usually folks like you start griping when we talk about putting money toward helping people. We're already paying for plenty. We paid for this war, the last tax cut, this tax cut. I don't think it's too untoward to ask for a little something for the people.
By the way, you have yet to address my above points about the U of I's spending excesses. They're way more on point than the embarassments to the free market I pointed out above.
Best,
Dan C. |
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: -1
16 May 2003
Modified: 10:48:54 PM |
Dear Dan,
You really seem to want me to be outraged about something. I am not, I see a very bright future for our country and her citizens. Especially now that we control the three branches of government.
You said: "Usually folks like you start griping when we talk about putting money toward helping people. We're already paying for plenty. We paid for this war, the last tax cut, this tax cut."
You know Dan, I would not mind spending the money so much to help other people if I could get a return on the investment. The policies to which you suscribe from The Great Society on have cost well over 1 trillion dollars. What we got was an entire class of people who not only are dependent upon the government for their existence, but claim vitim status as a result.
Your policies have virtually destroyed the Black Family Unit. The "help" which you have bestowed upon them has nearly cripled them. We are going to change that.
You paid for the tax cut???? How is it that by allowing me to keep more of what I earn, it somehow costs you money. Now that's rich. I guess you guys really do think its your money afterall.
The very essence of this country is any person willing to forth some effort, take some risk, can have any job they wish. Even you. The labor movement desires that all workers be treated the same without any measurement of their individual productivity. What you usually end up getting in return is the lowest common denominator.
You say your a labor organizer. How about organizing a hard days work?
Thanks,
Jack
|
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by anonymous coward
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
20 May 2003
|
|
Can someone clarify for me: Does this bill mandate that Illinois state-provided insurance (such as for gov. employees) must cover contraceptives or that all insurance plans that cover anyone from Illinois must provide contraceptives? I'm kind of confused about this. |
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Ben Grosser
grosser (nospam) uiuc.edu (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
20 May 2003
|
|
Good question. I'm pretty sure its all health plans in Illinois. The News-Gazette lists it as 'state-regulated' health insurance plans, which I would presume to mean any health plan in Illinois. However, the NG certainly isn't a very reliable source. Anyone else? |
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
21 May 2003
|
Dear People Above in This Letter Stream,
To answer your question, no it does not cover everyone who has Health Insurance in the state. There is something called ERISA which effectively prempts all the state mandated coverages. This allows employers to self-insure and go around expensive state mandated coverages. So ask your employer if you are in a fully insured plan or a partially self insured plan. This will help you.
Jack |
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Dan Chambers
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 11
23 May 2003
Modified: 11:15:39 PM |
Jack,
Whew! It's been a busy week, which is why I haven't
responded to your last posts.
Since you seem bent on addressing larger issues other
than the health care crisis, I'll indulge. Your smearing of
the labor movement is just historically false. We produced
the 8-hour day (thank you commies and anarchists), the weekend
and the paid holiday. Social security, medicare, and public
education were our rallying cries.
These things weren't given for free by sweet marketeers. No,
youand I know they'll only give what they're forced to. Again,
save that crap for your ecnomics class. I live in the real
world. Where workers get screwed, frequently.
Back to the original post; your objection to the house bill
(which passed, no thanks to Rick Winkel) seems to revolve
around having someone else pay for a benefit others will
enjoy. I think you referred somewhere to the "purity of liberalism,
where to help someone you must hurt someone else."
Isn't that what economic power is all about? Halliburton,
Enron, Worldcom, Xerox, the California energy crisis,
the list goes on. All of them were
about helping some folks at the expense of others. Of course,
the groups we're talking about are reversed in that case,
which is why the right wing doesn't care, and why the left
does.
You could at least be honest, and say "Look, I want to
maximize my gain at everyone else's expense. That's
capitalism." Then I would understand. Instead, in a
thinly veiled straw man maneuver, you claim to protecting
one group's set of rights against someone else's claims.
But, for the reasons that are obvious to anyone who reads
the business section of the newspaper (any newspaper, any
period) it's ALWAYS about squeezing as much as you can out
of people for as much money as you can get away with. When
people start clamoring for some crumbs, then you cry "class
war." Just be honest, that's all I'm asking. |
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: -4
24 May 2003
Modified: 11:16:16 PM |
Dear Dan,
No problem on the tradiness of your response. I have dealt with labor many times over the years and I will certainly not ask you to punch a clock.
I am confused about your statement that I have not addressed your points. Do not confuse my complete disagreement with this bill as a lack of response. "The more state mandated benefits you place on employers, the more costly it will be, the more the employee will have to pay, and the likelyhood of employers moving to states or countries that are more employer friendly is greatly enhanced.
You now move to the labor question. "Social security, medicare, and public education were our rallying cries", Wow, the first two are almost broke and I am sure that you do not want to take credit for the state of Public Education. However, let me address each one. Did you ever wonder what happened with Health Care before Medicare, Medicaid and Health Insurance? People paid for them on an as needed basis. They shopped around, cut a deal, and got what medicine could provide. Today, most people think it is free and do not shop, and there is no competition and it is a mess. The same could be said of public education except that the private sector has entered the market and is getting better results with less money per student and is the answer to the educational difficulties we now face. However, the teachers union is a powerful lobby and seeks to protect poor performing teachers rather than enhancing the performance of their students. Have you ever read a letter from a non-educated civil war soldier compared to the letters that our student write today? You can thank public education for that.
As for Social Security, please do not tell me what a waste of pyramid scheme this is. If I could have the money that I have been forced to give for SSI, I would be a rich man today. BTW, How much money is in the supposed trust fund now? Not one red cent. It has all been spent on wasteful government programs. Your money, my money is not there. Just wait until our kids are going to get this bill.
As for labor, it had it's place. I am all for safer working conditions, strong worker pension programs, higher wages, etc. The eight hour work day was given to us by Henry Ford, not labor as you suggest. He did this because the demand for his product made him compete for workers. That's capitalism. When workers are in demand, employers compete for them, raising the wages and the conditions for all.
I would love to get an eight work day out of my employees right now. Instead, I am hampered by OSHA, FAMILY LEAVE, workers compensation claims that are clearly fraud etc. not to mention a host of other problems. If I want to give a worker who I think has gone above and beyond an extra $ 1000.00 or so, you would not believe the world of hurt that could befall me.
If you want to help labor, get off our backs. Let us compete for the most productive workers with wages and benefits that are comensurate with their output. You will see workers who make far more than pitance you demand now. You will see workers who lag behind, strive to be like the best and you will see companies able to compete with any Chinese company who exploits and threatens their workers.
Or is this equality what you seek?
Jack
|
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 1
25 May 2003
|
Dear Dan,
One more thing, You mentioned in a prior post, that you paid for the tax cut. I asked the question, How is it that by letting me and every other tax payor keep a little more of what they earn everyday cost you money? I noticed that you did not address this point and would love to see your answer.
Jack |
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 1
31 May 2003
|
Dear Dan,
It has been a week and no response. You mentioned you were a labor organizer. Any chance you are with Jimmy Hoffa now. If so, tap your keyboard and we will send help.
Your Friend,
Jack |
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: -2
03 Jun 2003
|
Dear Libs,
Interesting how you guys know when you are beaten and simply retreat and move to the next battle front. Why can't you defend yourselves or your beliefs. Is it because they are not founded on solid princible?
Dan, you will notice that I answered everyone of your points. Yet you fail to respond. I know you are not dead because you have addressed me in other posts. Quite politely, I must add, but your lack of response here, causes me some concern. Either I have won again, or you forgot you were engaged. I will give you more time to come up with a response. Talk with friends.
Jack |
|
Re: Over 80 Citizens Picket Senator Winkel's Office In Urbana |
by Clark
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
22 Jul 2005
|
July 21, 2005 No.939
Friday Sermon By Leading Saudi Imam Al-Sudayyis in Mecca: "Oh Allah, Liberate Our Al-Aqsa Mosque... Punish the Occupying Zionists and Their Supporters Among The Corrupt Infidels... Oh Allah, Scatter and Disperse Them"
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD93905 |
|
