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US Senate: Experts and Advocates Support the Consumer-First Energy Act

U.S. Senate Documents, 6/10/08
Senate Democratic Communications Center

The Consumer-First Energy Act, legislation to address the root causes of high gas prices, is supported by energy and economy experts as well as labor, environmental, business, rural and seniors' advocates. They agree that this bill will address the root causes of gas prices, spur innovation and development of alternative energy and reduce America's dependence on oil.

ENERGY AND ECONOMY EXPERTS SUPPORT THE CONSUMER-FIRST ENERGY ACT

Providence Journal: Holly Sklar, Tax Day gifts for the rich

By Holly Sklar
Providence Journal, 4/15/08
Axcess News, World News Network, OpEdNews.com, CommonDreams.org, Inequality.org, TradingMarkets.com, UAW At Issue. Distributed by Minuteman Media, 5/7/08. Known placements include Portland Observer (OR), Northwest Arkansas Times, Santa Rosa Press Gazette (FL), Asheville Citizen Times (NC), Watertown Tab (MA), Labor World Newspaper (MN), Daily News (Batavia, NY), Daily News (Huntingdon, PA), Champion (GA).

When it comes to cutting taxes for the wealthy, President Bush can truly say, "Mission accomplished."

Employee Benefit News: Coalitions advocate for health care reform as costs threaten SMBs

Employee Benefit News, 4/1/08
By Chris Silva

The availability of affordable health care currently appears to be the No. 1 concern on the minds of most small and mid-size businesses (SMBs). According to a study of 506 California business owners with less than 100 employees, 75% rank the availability of affordable health care as extremely or very important. Fifty-seven percent see health care financing as a shared responsibility among individuals, employers and government.

Sacramento Bee: Arensmeyer, Health care reform is vital to small business

By John Arensmeyer
Sacramento Bee, January 25, 2008

There are only two kinds of small businesses that don't offer health coverage to their employees: those that want to but can't afford it, and those that don't want to.

There are exceedingly few that fall into the latter category, but their voices are heard disproportionately in the health care debate, and as Assembly Bill X1 1 heads to a critical series of votes in the Senate, it's important for our leaders to understand this.

Post Bulletin (MN): The rich keep getting richer

By Bill Boyne
Post Bulletin (Rochester, MN), 12/28/07

America is still the land of promise -- for billionaires.

A recent news report by Holly Sklar for McClatchy-Tribune News Service told the happy stories of those who live in the top 1 percent of the U.S. income brackets.

It noted that only two years ago, even lowly multi-millionaires could qualify for the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans. That is no longer the case. As of 2007, only billionaires are on the list -- and there are even 82 billionaires who don't quite make the top 400.

San Francisco Chronicle: Health care plan means only 1% tax for small business

By Ilana DeBare
San Francisco Chronicle, 12/26/07

Q: My husband and I own a small S corporation in California with net revenue of less than $50,000 per year. We struggle each year to buy minimal but outrageously costly health insurance for the two of us. If my reading of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's new health insurance proposal is correct, we will be taxed an additional 6.5 percent of our payroll to pay for uninsured citizens. I think maybe small businesses are going to be the losers in this new plan. Am I reading it correctly?

Scared in Santa Cruz

San Jose Mercury News: Arensmeyer, Small businesses need health care help

By John Arensmeyer
San Jose Mercury News, 12/03/2007

The prospect of relief from the crushing health care burden faced by small businesses has moved closer to reality in the past two weeks, as California's top legislators submitted a compromise health care reform proposal, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger responded with a counterproposal of his own.

San Francisco Chronicle: Arensmeyer Letter to Editor: Small Businesses Care

Letter to the Editor by John Arensmeyer
San Francisco Chronicle, 11/28/07

Small businesses care

Editor - Your cartoon published on Nov. 24, showing small business turkeys being sacrificed by the Democrats to obtain health care coverage for California's uninsured, completely misrepresents the health care needs of small businesses.

Boston Globe: The future of the corporation

By Robert Kuttner
Boston Globe, 11/21/07

LAST WEEK, superinvestor Warren Buffett, America's second richest man, testified before the Senate Finance Committee on the subject of why people like him can well afford to pay taxes. In fact, Buffett is ceasing to be among the very wealthiest because he is giving most of his fortune away to philanthropies while he is still alive.

Stateline: Will California take the plunge on health care?

By Rebekah Gordon
Stateline.org, 11/19/07

LOS ANGELES – Dr. Edward Newton doesn’t bother wondering whether his patients in the emergency room at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center have health insurance. He just assumes they all don’t.