Supreme Court Allows Corporations to Buy Elections
January 21, 2010
I strongly disagree with the Supreme Court's decision to strike down another piece of Campaign Finance Law. By giving corporations the same free speech rights as individual human beings, the Court will allow companies to buy elections and further corrupt the political process. A century of precedent is stripped away by this ruling, which would allow both domestic and foreign corporations to pour unlimited amounts of cash into federal elections, overwhelming the will of the voters and the resources of candidates.
The American people are already struggling with the worst recession since the Great Depression, caused in part by the reckless behavior of certain Wall Street and corporate decision makers. The last thing they need is for these companies to be able to buy elections. I am working with my colleagues to reverse this 5-4 split decision, incredibly made by Justices who claim to be against judicial activism. Justice Scalia even voted against the decision he supported 20 years ago.
Members of Congress and the constituents I meet all agree that there is too much money in politics already, and the Courts decision will only make that problem worse. There will be swift action in Congress to restore the restrictions on direct campaign spending by corporations.
Your Representative,
John Hall
One Giant Step for Healthcare
November 7, 2009
Tonight I was proud to vote yes as the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3962 - the Affordable Health Care for America Act. While this bill is not perfect, it makes many major improvements in our current unsustainable health care system. Thiswas a historic vote and these are the types of changes I am fighting for inCongress.
1) No more denials of insurance coverage because of pre-existing conditions including pregnancy, domestic abuse, infertility, and others claimed by insurance companies.
2) No more co-pays for checkups, diagnostics like mammograms and colonoscopies, and well care.
3) No more immunity from anti-trust laws for health insurance companies.
4) Creation of a health insurance exchange that offers a choice of private plans but with the lower rates negotiated by a large pool of purchasers.
5) A non-profit public option to compete with private insurance, to keep prices down.
6) Incentives to grow our numbers of primary care physicians and nurses.
7) Elimination of the Medicare Part D "donut hole" starting with a $500 reduction in January, and a 50% reduction in prices for name-brand drugs.
8) Allowing children to stay on their parent's health plan until their 27th birthday.
9) Help for small businesses, with affordable options for coverage and no employee mandate for those under $500,000 anual payroll. Subsidies of up to 50% for businesses with an average salary of under 44,000 per year and fewer than 25 employees.
10) YOUR CHOICE! KEEP YOUR EXISTING PLAN AND DOCTORS IF YOU ARE HAPPY, MORE OPTIONS IF YOU ARE UNINSURED OR UNHAPPY WITH YOUR SITUATION.
As President Obama said today, everyone will find something in this bill they like, and something they don't like. But what we all need to remember is that the yearly premium increases of 25% and more are bankrupting families and small businesses. Too many Americans are one accident or one serious illness away from insolvency. Today we take the first step toward joining the rest of the industrialized world, the other 19 countries of the G-20 who offer some basic health insurance to all their citizens.
I ran in 2006, and again in 2008, saying that I would vote for any bill that moved us closer to providing health care for all Americans. I kept that promise today.
Your Representative,
John Hall
Responses from local constituents:
- Thank you, John. I am a musician and Music Therapist who is paying self insurance, but has high medical hospital bills as well, which I cannot pay. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I also have an autistic nephew, my sister is a single parent and health care is expensive as well as education/therapy for Alec. I also have another sister who is a single parent with three small boys and she is paying outrageous costs for their healthcare, so much so that her primary care takes a back seat. My parents are also getting older, 70 years old and climbing...so everyone is in the same rockin' boat!
Thank you so much, Sincerely, D.
- John, Thanks for acting as I expected & wanted. Next step is getting Senate to approve this bill.
Thanks, A.
