Puget Sound Liberals Weekly Newsletter #190
Enhancing Freedom, Opportunity and Cooperation in
Through informing and networking Liberals and Liberal Organizations.
Our vision is hundreds of thousands of well-informed
Our Website Our Editor To Unsubscribe Table of
Contents * Featured Articles Calendars of Events Communication with Our Members Opportunities Petitions Commentaries from Our Members Kathleen Heiman: Why Kent Teachers Are Striking* Stan Sorscher: Boeing Should Go Back to Basics* Ingrid McDonald: Vote No on Eyman’s I-1033* Betty Devereux: Join Mad as Hell Doctors Caravan Liberals and Democrats Links to the Beef Where’s the Money to Reduce our Deficits? * State and Local Links
to the Beef Accountability for Political Expenditures Balancing Public and Private Interests* Featured Advocacy Group: Vote No on I-1033** Nation and World Links to the Beef Education, Labor and Healthy Living* Our Liberal Spirit Seeing Others as They See Themselves** Our
Political Priorities ·
Fair Clean
Elections and Open Government ·
Fair Taxes and
Competent Spending ·
Investment for
Productivity ·
Quality
Health, Education, Jobs, Income ·
Environmental
Protection and Energy Independence ·
Security and
Equal Rights ·
Justice and
Peace Everywhere ·
International
Cooperation and Leadership Conservatives oppose all of these Let’s
End Our National Nightmare
Let’s
Restore Our American Dream More on Conservative opposition to our
American Dream Washington State’s 5 Major Needs · Federal Funding for Health and Education · Substituting
a Progressive Income Tax · Replacing
Conservative Legislators [A
Simple Summary of Why We Need Health Care Reform and What it should include] [There
Are Lots of Ways to Pay for Health Care Reform] Quote of the Week I’m Unique. Like Everyone Else. Dave
Thomas
Calendar of Events
Thursday, September 3 at 6 PM at Westlake Park in
downtown Seattle - “Stand Up! For Health Insurance Reform” Rally, sponsored by Washington CAN!,
Organizing
for America and Health Care
for America Now. RSVP.
Tuesday, September 22 at 6:30 at Eastshore Unitarian
Church (12700 SE 32nd Street, Bellevue) - Bellevue Health Care Town Hall: Dispelling Myths, Understand Choices,
sponsored by 41st LD Democrats and Physicians for a National Health
Program of Western Washington.
Communication
with Our Members
September Is Finally Here
Major health reform decisions await
congressional action. But with congress
at recess, there is little news. I am
very optimistic that health reform will move forward during September and
October. But our media pundits almost
unanimously disagree with me, believing that funding difficulties and lack of
voter support will defeat health reform.
So I am anxious to learn whether I or the pundits are
right. For
more. For
more.
If I am right, passage of health care
reform this year will clear our Obama Administration’s agenda for dealing with
a variety of other issues in early 2010, which together with an improving
economy will provide momentum going into the fall 2010 elections.
Opportunities
Useful
Websites: contacts, maps, community organizing tools, and more.
Access
to jillions of political cartoons.
Download
Sightline Institute’s climate policy primer ‘Cap and Trade 101’. About
Sightline.
Conduct your own home energy audit.
See all of President Obama’s
weekly (Saturday) addresses.
Petitions
Tell
President Obama to fight for a health care reform which includes a robust
public option.
Tell
President Obama to lead congress to pass a strong clean energy bill this year.
Tell
your congress members to support humane immigration reform.
Tell
your congress members to prohibit importation of processed chicken from China.
Tell
Yellowstone NP Superintendent Suzanne Lewis, to replace snowmobiles with snow
coaches.
Tell our National Marine
Fisheries Service to protect blue fin tuna.
Name
the health reform bill that passed the Senate HELP Committee after Senator
Edward Kennedy.
Tell
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to push for restoration of Democracy in
Honduras.
Commentaries
From Our Members
Kathleen Heiman: Why Kent Teachers Are Striking
Greetings, I work for the WEA and am in Kent, working with the Kent
teachers who are on strike.
Our Kent Education Association webpage
explains why we are striking:
What are the building blocks for
quality schools? Small
classes. Great teachers. Time with students to provide individual help.
Kent school
administrators have lost
sight of the basics. They’ve spent millions on smart technology but
forgotten that the real goal is smart kids. Classes in Kent are now bigger and
more crowded than poorer districts with fewer resources. Teacher pay is the
worst in the entire Puget Sound region, making it a challenge to hire and keep
the best teachers. Our administrators’ focus on mid-level meetings has now
trumped teachers’ time with students. This year the school board laid off
teachers (increasing class sizes even more), and proposed rolling back pay even
further -- all so they could maintain a $21 million administrative savings
account.
Our communities
deserve to receive the great schools they pay for. The Kent School Board needs
to get their eye back on what’s important. Kent teachers are standing up for
the priorities that matter most for our schools. Thank you. Kathleen
Heiman
Stan Sorscher: Boeing Should Go Back to Basics
Published by Seattle Times
on 9/3/2009
EARLY this year, Boeing announced it was considering
the option of opening a second 787 production line outside Washington state.
The logic is the subject of intense public discussion. From the employees'
perspective, splitting production between two regions would compound problems
in a program that was deeply flawed from the beginning.
Boeing's new 787 airplane program makes an unusually
heavy commitment to the global supplier network for design, manufacture and
capital investment. Boeing retained responsibility for system integration and
project management, while outsourcing much of the technical work of designing
and building products.
The business theory holds that Boeing's strengths in
system integration and project management were specialized work, justifying
higher profit margins. On the other hand, the technical work of design and
manufacture is less specialized, less profitable and therefore more suitable
for outsourcing. Supply chain management techniques would squeeze suppliers and
siphon future gains to Boeing and its shareholders.
Ironically, from 1998 to 2008, Boeing repurchased more
than $20 billion in stock, consuming more than enough capital for an entire new
airplane program. Boeing gets nothing of productive value for that $20 billion.
This approach was very attractive to the financial
community, because it treats Boeing's financial risk as the primary
consideration. Partners from Japan and Italy would contribute billions of
dollars to the new program while tax subsidies from Washington and Kansas would
bring in more billions. Boeing would minimize its financial risk and maximize
the return on its limited capital investment.
This theory sounds familiar. The same misjudgment
crippled the banking industry. Banks assumed that dividing risk would make the
system stronger, because any failure would be shared among many parties.
The banking industry was shocked to realize the risks
were strongly coupled together. When one investment failed, others failed at
the same time for the same reasons. Sadly, the process of dividing the risk
actually increased the likelihood the system would fail.
In this sense, the 787 global business model is
actually sub-optimized around the interests of investors. By putting the
interests of investors first, Boeing significantly magnified technical and
production risk throughout the program.
From 1999 to 2004, the Society of Professional
Engineering Associations in Aerospace (SPEEA) had many conversations with
financial analysts and investors. We explained how we saw risk from a technical
perspective. Very thoughtful and well-informed analysts in the financial
community listened carefully, but disagreed. They explained to us that this
business model had worked for running shoes, for ladies' garments, cell phones,
hard drives and light bulbs. It worked for those industries and it would work
for aerospace.
The 787 is the test case for that belief. The aerospace business is risky and difficult
on its best day. In our business, every part, every assembly, every supplier
and every system must work together coherently to meet the customers'
expectations.
Boeing is paying penalties to customers, has bailed
out two major suppliers so far, and is setting industry records for misjudgment
in the execution of a shaky plan. Instead
of reaping profits, Boeing inherits all the production problems. The ultimate
resource for solving these technical and production problems is the remaining
pool of experienced workers in Puget Sound, who are logging overtime measured
in millions of hours.
Unable to manage the technical, production and
supply-chain risks, Boeing would now consider a second production line out of
state, in effect doubling down on its ill-conceived and poorly executed global
supplier business model. This experiment
has failed, in dramatic proportions. Going forward, Boeing needs to get back to
the basics of products, processes and customers. This is an industry where
competence, experience and performance really do matter. Stan Sorscher, Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA)
legislative director
Ingrid McDonald: Vote No on Eyman’s I-1033
Dear
David, As you know, AARP's top policy priority this year is national health
reform -- which is why nearly all of my communications to you in recent weeks
and months have focused on this topic.
But as we head into fall, we are also turning our attention to state policy
issues that impact our members -- including Initiative 1033. AARP
Washington has joined the coalition to oppose I-1033 because the measure has
the potential to severely and negatively impact issues ranging from education
to public safety, from business to labor, and from health care to the
environment.
If passed, I-1033 would severely limit the amount of state, county, and city
revenue that could be spent starting in 2010. Any revenue raised above the
limit would be required to go to reducing property taxes in the following year.
While this
idea may sound good on the surface, it's already a proven failure.
I-1033 uses the same failed formula as the "TABOR" law passed in
Colorado, which led to deep cuts to public schools, roads and highways, and children's
health care. It did so much damage to the state's economy that in 2005,
Coloradans voted to suspend the law.
AARP members and their families would be especially hard hit by Initiative
1033. Here are four reasons to oppose I-1033:
I-1033 will
make it harder for us to dig out of the recession. The national
recession has cost our state thousands of jobs and forced billions in cutbacks
to important local services. I-1033 will force even deeper cuts and lock
them in for years to come -- meaning more job losses, more hard times for
Washington families, and a longer delay waiting for our economy to recover.
I-1033
will mean more bad news for our communities and small businesses.
I-1033 will make things harder than ever for local communities already
struggling to maintain basic services such as road repair, libraries and public
safety. Small businesses rely on those services, and oppose I-1033
because they will continue to suffer during a prolonged recession.
If passed,
I-1033 will cause more damage to our schools. This year we've
slashed school funding by $1.5 billion, and as many as 3,000 teachers and
education employees are facing layoffs. I-1033 will take even more
resources away from Washington's classrooms -- and Washington's kids.
I-1033
will damage our health care safety net. Despite a
growing senior population, funding for in-home care and adult day health
services are being cut - and rising costs may force thousands who rely on the
Basic Health Plan to drop coverage. I-1033 will make our health care
crisis even more severe.
Times are tough enough already -- let's not make them worse. Please join
us and Vote NO on I-1033. For more information and to get involved in the
effort to defeat I-1033, visit www.no1033.com. Thank you, Ingrid McDonald, AARP Advocacy Director
Betty Devereux: Join Mad as Hell Doctors Caravan
Brothers
and Sisters, I was fortunate to meet the Mad as Hell Doctors and see their
“dress rehearsal” in Sequim the other night before they kick off their tour in
Seattle on September 8. It was wonderful, and it’s going to have a
national impact.
At their first
event in Sequim, Washington earlier this week,
700 people showed up to support their call for single
payer national health insurance. President
Obama, on the other hand, has refused to meet with them. But that’s not stopping the Mad as Hell
Doctors. They’re heading for Washington.
On September 8, the Oregon doctors will board a 27-foot Winnebago and head
East. Making stops in 30 cities across
the country. Advocating for a single
payer national health insurance system. To see their itinerary and join the caravan,
go to their website. Betty
Devereux
Liberals
and Democrats
Government Watch
Also go to Whitehouse.gov.
Health Care Reform
Many supporters of health care reform worried that
delaying the adoption of health care reform by the House and Senate until after
their recess would allow opponents to successfully lobby against reform. But the tea baggers stimulated large numbers
of supporters of reform to attend town meetings to conduct civil conversations
about the various issues. And the tea
baggers alienated their congress members.
Our commercial
media pundits have suggested that many of our public question our various
health reform proposals. Since there are
5 different proposals which agree on much, but disagree on various details, it
is difficult for people to understand and support them. But the proportion of our public that
strongly supports health care reform is much larger than the proportion that
strongly opposes reform.
Both
houses of congress have enough votes for a public option to pass it. I believe that our congress members will
return from their recess next week to quickly act. House members will reconcile their three
committee reports and vote upon their reform proposal. Since all Republican Senators are opposed to
health care reform, and a half dozen Democratic Senators are wavering, I
believe that the Senate will use reconciliation to pass a bill. Even Democrats, who question a public option
and various other aspects of the health reform that is likely to pass, realize
that to not pass any health care reform would wreck havoc on our Democratic
Party. For
more.
Lots
of factors are restricting the choices of health care plans that most people
will have. Whether other countries
have single payer or a combination of single payer for some health care and
private insurance for other health care, they
provide everyone with the same combination.
Henry Waxman asks
private insurance companies for information about executive pay, proportion
of premiums that are paid for health care and other information.
Middle Class Working Families Task Force
Vice President
Joe Biden is chairing this task
force consisting of representatives of many relevant federal agencies,
oriented to realizing the following objectives:
·
Expanding education and lifelong training
opportunities
·
Improving work and family balance
·
Restoring labor standards, including workplace safety
·
Helping to protect middle-class and working-family
incomes
·
Protecting retirement security
Federal Reserve Chairman
President
Obama proposed that Ben Bernanke serve a second term as Federal Reserve
Chairman. Although he was slow to
recognize the housing-credit bubble and its collapse, he responded vigorously
to limit the damage and provide conditions for recovery to occur.
Department of Justice
Attention
is being refocused upon civil rights issues.
Recovery from Katrina
Obama
Administration establishes coordination among federal, state and local agencies,
eliminates red tape, frees up unused redevelopment funds and cooperates with
local citizen initiative to improve recovery efforts.
Small Business Contracts
Our Small
Business Administration has launched
a website that enables small and disadvantaged businesses to easily apply
for federal contracts.
Extending Broadband Internet Access
Our Federal
Communications Commission is using
internet to obtain opinions from many people.
Where’s the Money to Reduce our Deficits?
Lots
of sources of money to reduce our deficits have been found. Much more can be obtained by cutting
military, agricultural and other expenditures which do nothing to further our
public interest, existing only because of the political clout of private
interests.
Our
Obama Administration (which is emphasizing job creation) has delayed cutting
much unnecessary spending, which creates some jobs (however
inefficiently). As we recover from our
recession and unemployment falls, a key test of our Obama Administration’s
integrity will be its willingness to take on the special interests that promote
this wasteful spending and the congress members that vote for such wasteful
spending.
Assisting Small Businesses
I understand
that more families have someone who is involved in a small business than have
someone who is involved in a labor union.
Small businesses create many jobs, but also frequently fail so that jobs
are lost. Their importance is as an
incubator of new technologies and practices.
I have long advocated that Liberals should assist small businesses much
as we do labor unions. We should:
·
Quit creating unfunded mandates for
small businesses. We should instead
allow tax credits for such worker friendly small business actions as saving
jobs for employees who serve in our national guard and providing family leave.
·
Federally fund health care, so
employers don’t need to provide health care.
·
Substitute a Value Added Tax for our
present FICA Jobs tax.
Small
businesses should then support Liberal initiatives, instead of opposing them as
they often do now.
Here’s the Beef
Senator Ted Kennedy spent
nearly half a century advancing many Liberal causes.
Less
educated underemployed Whites will support those who provide them green jobs.
A boycott is occurring
due to Whole Foods CEO John Mackey’s rejection of a public insurance option.
Labor
unions will quit supporting Democrats who sell out to corporate interests.
State
and Local
BIAW’s Legal Successes
Besides
making campaign donations to Conservative political candidates and influencing
legislation, the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) initiates
many legal actions, especially against Conservation measures (such as our
Growth Management Act, Critical Areas Ordinance, Shoreline Management Act,
State Water Pollution Control Act) which limit construction.
BIAW
has attacked Futurewise
2005
BIAW
v. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association)
BIAW filed a
lawsuit to compel the federal government to act on salmon de-listing
petitions. BIAW won and was awarded
$27,000 in attorneys’ fees.
Holmes
Harbor Sewer District v. Homes Harbor Building
BIAW filed an
amicus brief (friend of the court) arguing a sewer district could not charge
fees for lots that were not hooked up to a sewer. The state Supreme Court agreed.
Viking
Property v. Holm
BIAW filed an
amicus brief arguing the Growth Boards had overstepped its authority by
creating new law. The state Supreme
Court agreed.
2006
BIAW
v. State Building Code Council
BIAW filed a
lawsuit to force the state to revisit all local building code amendments when
the code changed from the UBC to the IBC. The state backed down and agreed to
BIAW’s position.
2007
City
of Arlington v. CPSGMHB (Central Puget Sound Growth Mgmt. Hearings Boards) BIAW filed an
amicus brief in a case where the Washington State Department of Community Trade
and Economic Development challenged a County ordinance allowing development on
a piece of property. The State Supreme
Court found the Growth Boards had improperly ignored important evidence that
the property was not economically viable for farming and should be zoned for
development.
Woods
v. Kittitas County
BIAW filed an
amicus brief in a case where the state Supreme Court held the Superior Court
does not have jurisdiction to decide whether a site-specific rezone complied
with the GMA. The State Supreme Court
agreed with BIAW, ruling the GMA does not strictly apply to land use decisions,
but those decisions must conform generally to a comprehensive plan.
Biggers
v. Bainbridge Island
BIAW filed an
amicus brief challenging Bainbridge Island’s building moratorium as unlawful.
The Court agreed and invalidated the moratorium.
2008
Thurston
County v. WWGMHB (Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Boards) BIAW filed an
amicus brief in a case that brought down King County’s Critical Areas
Ordinance. The Court held the County could not enact a blanket regulation, but
must treat each parcel on a case-by-case basis.
For
more.
Futurewise
v. WWGMHB
BIAW
filed an amicus brief in a case filed by anti-growth activists, who sought
greater shoreline regulations under the Growth Management Act. The state Supreme Court overturned a decision
by the Growth Boards, which had held that local jurisdictions must regulate
shorelines under the GMA.
Twin
Bridges Marina v. DOE
BIAW filed an
amicus brief in a case where DOE appealed a land use decision after the
deadline had passed. The state Supreme
Court ruled DOE had to abide by the same deadlines as any other aggrieved
party.
Accountability for Political Expenditures
Rules of accountability for political
expenditures are different for businesses and for labor unions. Our Supreme Court has ruled that businesses
need not obtain permission from their stock holders to make political
contributions to particular candidates and causes. The argument is that stock holders who
disagree with such contributions can simply sell their stock. One group is attempting to persuade
businesses to at least reveal
their contributions.
Some
labor union members cannot simply quit supporting their labor union. Such members can ask
that their money not be used to make political contributions that they oppose.
These different rules of accountability
handicap labor unions.
And the struggle continues between
labor unions that want to be able to spend money politically without consulting
their members and Conservatives that want to prohibit union’s political
expenditures. For more. For more. For
more. The BIAW spends money intended
for paying disability claims for political purposes without consulting its
members. For more.
For
a more comprehensive history of labor union legislation.
Balancing Public and Private Interests
In her commentary in last week’s newsletter, Cathi
Bright denied that Labor is a special interest:
“It also
doesn't help when Democrats are tagging labor as a "special interest"
as Ross Hunter did recently. Too many people that are not familiar with what unions
actually do, believe that unions do represent some kind of special interest.
Although that logic never did make any sense to me. Unions pursue legislation that benefits all
working people, not just those who are fortunate enough to have a union, like
increasing minimum wage and unemployment compensation benefits. In my
estimation, when the vast majority of people belong to a single constituency
group, then it cannot rationally be a "special" interest and becomes
the public interest.”
Dave Thomas Responds
I
believe that everyone and every group has private interests. Acting to satisfy their private interests,
both major political parties act in concert to restrict the participation of
other political parties. When educators
and labor members support improved educational and other government services,
they are acting to further our public interest.
But when they support increasing their own earnings, benefits and
retirement, they are acting to further their private interests.
Much
of our political activity involves communicating and negotiating balances
between public and private interests. To
avoid distracting from my concern with realizing our public interests, I avoid
supporting the private interests of environmental, education, health, labor and
other groups, leaving it to them to argue for fair treatment. I join with these groups only in promoting
our public interests.
Cathi
Bright is correct in noting that unions often attempt to realize public
interests, unlike businesses which usually act only toward realizing their
private interests. Dave Thomas
Featured Advocacy Group -------
Vote No on Initiative 1033 --------------------
Initiative 1033 is a misleading initiative that will
have thousands of unintended consequences - and it's an idea that's already
been proven a failure in other states.
I-1033 would slow economic recovery and leave us in a
permanent recession. This year Washington faced a
devastating budget deficit. Unfortunately, I-1033 would lock in this year's
budget as our baseline. The worst of times in Washington would become the best
that we can hope for.
I-1033 threatens education and health care. Unemployment is still on the rise, families are being kicked off health
care, teachers across the state are being laid off, and nursing homes and
hospitals are being forced to reduce their care. As the economy recovers, we
could restore funding to these services - but under I-1033 the current
situation would become permanent.
I-1033 is a proven failure. A similar initiative passed in Colorado in 1992. Since then, Colorado's
economy has been devastated and funding for services ranging from education, to
the judicial system, to health care and libraries has plummeted. The situation
was so critical that in 2005 voters put the law on hold so their state could
recover.
Similar initiatives been defeated at the ballot in
Maine, Nebraska, Oregon and most recently California—and they've been kept from
the ballot in Ohio, Missouri, Oklahoma, Montana, and Michigan. Between 2005 and
2009, TABOR was introduced legislatively in 28 states (AL, AZ, CA, FL, GA, ID,
KS, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NH, NM, NV, OH, OK, OR, PH, SC, TN, TX,
VA, WI). Colorado remains the only state to have adopted this terrible idea. For more.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here’s the Beef
Washington
Democratic and Republican parties both defend their private interests at public
expense.
Washington
families must pay more to meet their basic needs.
Levees, dikes and drainage
ditches are being removed to save Skagit River salmon.
Pacific
NW Smart Grid Demonstration project may soon be funded.
State
Senator Phil Rockefeller says Washington must lead on climate change.
Vacant
lots can be put to good use.
Nation
and World
Education, Labor and Healthy Living
Unhealthy
habits are making Americans sick and greatly increasing the cost of our health
care. Changing our unhealthy habits requires
more than government action. Education,
labor and other advocacy groups can help.
Imagine
that our Washington Education Association hired healthy living specialists or
coordinators to promote healthy habits among members, their children and the general
public. Information about our habits and
needed changes could be made available through website, email and regular
mail. Bargaining with school districts
could include requiring healthier foods in school lunch. Labor unions could similarly promote healthy
habits.
Here’s the Beef
Many parts of the world
need early warning systems concerning climate changes.
Bye
bye opportunities, jobs, incomes, houses for young adults. For
more.
EPA
likely to declare CO2 a dangerous pollutant
U.S.
manufacturing finally begins to increase.
China’s
stimulus programs are stimulating more manufacturing.
Mexico
and Argentina are decriminalizing drug use.
Thanks
to climate change, bye bye great barrier reef.
Productivity
up instead of employment.
Our
Liberal Spirit
Seeing Others as
They See Themselves
This was originally written in response to the faulty
arrest of homeowner Henry Lewis Gates.
Its publication kept getting delayed due to the occurrence of more
timely topics.
It is difficult to see others, especially others with
different experiences and social environments, as they see themselves. Whites and Blacks each fail to understand to
understand the experiences and perspectives of the other. Men and Women similarly each fail to
understand the experiences and perspectives of the other. For example, men do not realize that women
continually face the possibility of being raped. Nor do men understand the defensive behaviors
that women take.
Luckily, I have had many somewhat rare
experiences. A great grandmother of
African and Native American heritage, cleft palate, academic home, polio,
alcoholism, religious order membership, elk hunting, community development in
rural villages on five continents, death of a mountain-climbing son, attendance
at my respected step-father’s suicide and more.
Each has yielded insights into others: their experiences, situations,
aspirations and frustrations.
I hope it has taught me how to learn from others how
they view things the same and very differently than how I generally do. But I still have many blind spots, make false
assumptions about others, make ugly faux pas and otherwise cause trouble for
others and myself. Dave Thomas
Recommended Books – See our list of books for liberals
Robert Sheer, 2008, The Pornography of Power, Why Defense Spending Must Be Cut
Robert Sheer presents an update upon our
military-industrial-congressional complex, which indicates that it is as
powerful as ever, resulting in enormous waste, erroneously justified as
creating jobs. Although without numbers,
it is evident that major amounts of money could be diverted to more stimulative
infrastructure projects and after our economy recovers, to paying down our
national debt.
Gregory
Dow, 2003, Governing the Firm, Worker’s
Control in Theory and Practice
I
have long wondered by most businesses are owned by those who supply the capital
instead of those who supply the labor.
This book tediously addresses this issue. Gregory Dow’s conclusion is that those who
provide capital can easily hire labor.
But those who provide labor cannot easily borrow capital. This is because labor cannot become the
property of the business and serve as collateral for loans.
One
example of this is our Group Health Cooperative (GHC) of Puget Sound, which is
one of only two Consumer owned health maintenance organizations (HMOs). GHC has grown slowly since its founding 50
years ago, because it couldn’t raise capital as easily as for-profit HMOs. Since HMOs offer coordinated prevention,
treatment and hospice care, we need more of them, but unless they are consumer
owned, they are motivated to reduce their care beyond what physicians
recommend. One possible reform is for
the government to provide a capital fund from which consumer owned HMOs could
borrow to satisfy their capital needs.