Following the campaign, November 20
From Karin Caifa:
BEST-SELLER
Kucinich’s compilation of essays and speeches, “A Prayer for America,” currently sits at No. 17 on the New York Times list of paperback non-fiction best-sellers, just ahead of Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong’s memoir.
THE MEDICARE BILL
Kucinich released this statement Wednesday regarding the Medicare bill: “Don’t be fooled by the rhetoric, or false advertisements, the plan presented by Republicans to privatize Medicare will harm seniors in Ohio. The plan, in its current form, could force over 430,000 Ohio seniors from the current Medicare program into private plans. This so-called ‘reform’ bill could force over 150,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Ohio to lose their health retirement benefits. In addition, close to 195,000 Medicaid beneficiaries in Ohio, those with the lowest incomes will pay more for the prescription drugs they need. Privatization plans will be more expensive than Medicare fee for service. This bill prevents lower drug prices by prohibiting Medicare from negotiating lower prices through bulk purchases and puts up barriers to the importation of cheaper drugs from Canada. Under this plan, seniors in Ohio, and nationwide, can expect the continued escalation of the prices of private health insurance and prescription drugs. Medicare privatization is bad for seniors, bad for retirees, bad for employers, and bad for the economy. The only ones who benefit from this plan are the pharmaceutical companies and the HMOs who seek to continue health care for profit in this country.
FIRST LADY SWEEPSTAKES
If you didn’t enter the PoliticsNH.com contest to be Kucinich’s first lady, you’ve missed your chance. They’ve closed it to entries with the final total standing at 80 ladies, including an Iowa woman who donates 20 percent of her salary to the Kucinich campaign, the daughter of the creator of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and — get this — a first cousin of Democratic rival Dean. James Pindell of PoliticsNH.com told me Wednesday that since the field grew so large (last Monday it stood at two) he’s not quite sure how the “primaries” will run; they may group candidates by region or whether they sent in a photo and whittle it down from there. Looks like California’s gubernatorial race to me! No matter how readers get to choose the finalists, Pindell says they hope to declare a winner during the week after Thanksgiving. [ed. note: Karin Caifa sure seems to be obsessed with this contest]
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