What were the deciding factors in the 2018 midterm elections in the U.S.? Was it youth and diversity? Or status quo, ignorance, and fear? Looking at the situation rom a safe distance in Canada, yet with a watchful eye over current events in the U.S., I propose it is neither. Instead, it is courage.

It takes courage to create a new, reformist, forward-looking vision for better politics and society. This vision has been channeled by the progressives who marched, mobilized, and voted. It manifested itself in candidates, both those who ran and won office, who are unafraid to challenge the system and put forward bold and ambitious policy proposals.

Courage in politics, especially in American politics, has often been in short supply. Much has been written on this by academics, businessmen and politicians of yore. John F. Kennedy’s ‘Profiles in Courage’ is a particularly eloquent example. Yet, few leaders and elected officials have practiced it.

Courage in practice is difficult, for it calls on candor, a firm sense of principle, resolution and vision. It also, as Kennedy himself noted, often comes at great expense: the loss of fortune, friends and esteem. Courage is exponentially more challenging to harness in 2018, when quick-fixes are in vogue.

Lack of courage among leaders and politicians has translated into specific policy dilemmas facing the U.S. and the world more broadly, including restrictive and inhumane immigration and trade policies, curtailment of mobility, and increasing instability in our integrated world.

Lack of courage is evidenced in our inability to tackle wealth disparity, among and within countries. That inequality is on full display in our cities, as growing cosmopolitan elites dwell alongside persistent evictions, economic precariousness and poverty.

Lack of courage has also meant the absence of political will and viable solutions to prevent the spread of radical, racist, and right-wing ideology gaining foothold in the U.S., as well as in countries like Brazil and Hungary.

There is no simple formula to imbue our leadership with more courage. The most sensible path, also the path taken by many Americans in these midterm elections, is to replace them. It is to replace the self-interested and spineless officials of yesteryear with new voices and new ideas.

The election of newcomers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the squad of young female officials with bold political platforms was a step in the right direction. It is a reminder that courage still exists in America, and is in fact shared by the American people immune to provocations from profiteers of pain and peddlers of fear.

In the near future, I foresee many more courageous acts — by newly elected leaders in Congress, as well as by courageous American millennials who continue to storm the halls and corridors of power and influence.

I hope that progressives, especially those belonging to the generations who have championed the cause of justice for many decades, will be given the knowledge, support and chance to succeed.

Performing courageous acts in 2018 is exhausting, and resistance is immense. Despite those obstacles, as the midterm election results show, courage can still win. The new faces in the U.S. Congress might just show us how it can also be sustained and translated into practical gains for justice and fairness.

Progressive Americans are watching. The world is watching too, with hopes of following their lead.

Featured image: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [D-NY] and Rashida Tlaib [D-MI], newly elected to U.S. Congress, 2018

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Regardless of party affiliation or which party’s candidates voters cast their ballots for on November 6, the big winners in the midterm elections are all Americans with pre-existing medical conditions.

That’s because as of January 3, 2019, when the 116^th Congress convenes, Republican-led efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act will be blocked by a Democratic majority in the House. For at least the next two years, Americans can sleep more soundly and stop worrying about being denied healthcare insurance coverage because of a pre-existing condition, or being charged more for coverage because of one or more pre-existing conditions, or discovering that their insurance denies coverage for services or treatments associated with a pre-existing condition.

Unfortunately, the news media and party pundits continue to waste valuable reporting time on which party was the biggest winner – Democrats for taking back the House or Republicans for holding on to the majority in the Senate. As the pundits continue to push the winner/loser line and who is up and who is down in the polls, they’re giving scant air time to the most important story that touches the lives of all Americans—affordable and dependable access to healthcare.

Democrats, in particular, are missing the opportunity to trumpet what might be the most consequential result of the midterm elections and drive home the message that Democrats have just won a victory that protects all Americans and their families. Incredibly, Democrats once again are failing to craft a unified message that reminds voters that Democrats belong to the party that conceived of and committed itself for more than eighty years to compassionate, life-saving, and family-affirming programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act.

A new message for Democrats

Democrats, if you’re paying attention, here’s my suggestion for the most important message to drive home from now until 2020:

America, because of our steadfast commitment to your health and well-being, you can stop worrying about being denied health coverage if

• You are one of the 82 million Americans with a pre-existing condition with employer-based coverage.
• You are one of the 50 to 130 million, or 19 to 50 percent of non-elderly Americans, with some type of pre-existing condition.
• You are one of the 44 million Americans with high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
• You are one of the 34 million individuals suffering from asthma or chronic lung disease.
• You are in the group of the 34 million people who have osteoarthritis and other joint disorders.
• You are a parent with a child who is suffering from a childhood illness, because 1 in 4 children might have been denied coverage if the protections of the Affordable Care Act had been eliminated.

And what are those pre-existing conditions? The list is long and encompasses most of the most common ailments. According to the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, here are just some of the pre-existing conditions that insurers used to routinely deny coverage for prior to enactment in 2014 of the Affordable Care Act:

• HIV/AIDS
• Lupus
• Alcohol abuse/drug abuse with recent treatment
• Mental disorders
• Alzheimer’s/dementia
• Multiple sclerosis
• Rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and other inflammatory joint disease
• Muscular dystrophy
• Cancer within some period of time (e.g. 10 years)
• Severe obesity
• Cerebral palsy
• Organ transplant
• Congestive heart failure
• Paraplegia
• Coronary artery/heart disease, bypass surgery
• Paralysis
• Chrohn’s disease/ulcerative colitis
• Parkinson’s disease
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/emphysema
• Pending surgery or hospitalization
• Diabetes mellitus
• Penumocystic pneumonia
• Epilepsy
• Pregnancy or expectant parent
• Hemophilia
• Sleep apnea
• Hepatitis C
• Stroke
• Kidney disease, renal failure
• Transsexualism

The post Big winners in 2018 midterms? Every American with a pre-existing condition appeared first on Occasional Planet.

The continuing, confusing saga of voter ID requirements in Missouri continues. On Friday, October 19, at 5 pm, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that voters who do not show a photo ID–but who do show a “secondary” form of non-photo ID, should be allowed to vote a regular ballot, without having to sign an affidavit.

Bottom line: You can vote without photo ID in Missouri’s November 6 midterm election.

Unfortunately, this news comes too late for hundreds of people who have already been trained by county election boards to be pollworkers. [They’re the front-line workers who look at your ID and decide if you’re okay to vote.] Those who have already been trained have been told that voters lacking photo ID will have to sign an affidavit swearing, under penalty of law, that they are who they are and that they do not have a photo ID. Now, that whole procedure has been thrown out. But poll workers may not know about it, and confusion will undoubtedly ensue.

Further complicating the situation is a previous assertion, by Missouri’s Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, that poll workers can still enforce the affidavit rule.

Voting rights advocates are calling for Ashcroft and State Attorney General Josh Hawley to make it clear that election board employees and poll workers are required to abide by the Supreme Court’s ruling. [You’d think that would be obvious. But in an era in which the rule of law is under siege, it’s not the slam-dunk that it once was.] There’s also been a suggestion that election boards simply do not send affidavits to polling places, so that there’s no opportunity to require voters to sign them.

It’s going to be a messy Election Day. People who are unjustifiably asked to sign affidavits or who are not allowed to vote can call the Election Protection hotline, 1-866-687-8683, which will be staffed by attorneys and law students trained in election law.

The post MO voter ID update: No need for affidavits appeared first on Occasional Planet.

Need a sample ballot? Many Missouri voters are worrying about the 2018 midterm ballot. We’ve been warned: It’s unusually long. It includes a slew of Constitutional amendments, propositions, County charter amendments, retention questions for state judges most of us have never heard of, and, of course, candidates for offices ranging from US Senator to local tax assessor.

We’ve been warned, too, that the length of this ballot could result in an average voting time of, perhaps, 20 minutes. The result could be long lines at polling places, as an unusually energized electorate turns out in larger-than-usual numbers.

So, in the interest of being better informed and getting through the process more efficiently, many voters are asking their elections boards, as well as voter advocacy groups like the League of Women Voters about getting sample ballots in advance.

The good news is: they’re available. The even better news is: They’re available in several ways.

Mass mailing from your election board

Your local election board –at least those in St. Louis City and St. Louis County—will be sending you a printed, sample ballot about a week to 10 days before the election, along with information about the location of your polling place.  However, while mailing out a sample ballot is a very nice, transparent, good-government way of informing voters, the printed version you’ll receive will most likely use very small type, because there is so much to include. It will include all local, state and federal candidates in your area. Also, the mailed-out version will include the ballot language of the issues, but there will be no explanation of what they are. [Because ballots can vary from precinct to precinct, resulting in many versions of the ballot, the election board will probably not be able to mail you an individual ballot. You have to wait for the mass mailing.]

Print a sample ballot from St. Louis County Election Board

Because the candidates and issues can vary from area to area, there’s no one-size-fits-all generic sample ballot. But you can get a customized sample ballot for St. Louis County by going to http://www.stlouisco.com, searching on “sample ballot,” and following the on-screen prompts. You’ll then see a sample ballot for your specific area. You can print it out–but be aware that, because of its length, printing on letter-sized paper will result in some very small print. Still useful, though.

Vote411.org

This very helpful website is a project of the League of Women Voters’ Education Fund. You enter your address, zip code, city and state, and it brings up all the electoral contests and ballot issues in your specific area. By clicking the + sign next to each issue, you’ll get a screen that gives not only the ballot language, but also a plain-English explanation, and a summary of what supporters and opponents say about each issue. You’ll also find a list of all the judges up for retention, accompanied by the rating each received from the Missouri Bar Association.

For each candidate and issue, you can indicate how you want to vote [it’s all confidential, of course. You never put in your name.] To get a sample ballot, click on the Finish button. The site will ask for your cell phone and email address, and it will then send you an on-line version of the ballot, complete with all candidates and issues. Very convenient!

Missouri Secretary of State website

Although it doesn’t get you a sample ballot, clicking on https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections will get you the official title and the Fair Ballot Language” of each of the statewide constitutional amendments and propositions that you’ll see on the Nov. 6 ballot.  Under Fair Ballot Language, you’ll see what each proposal would do, if passed.

Voters Guide in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 26

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch —  in collaboration with the League of Women Voters — will include a comprehensive Voters Guide as a supplement in the [Friday] October 26 daily newspaper.  [They do this for every election, including primaries.] The guide will include all the information on the Vote411 website–but it won’t be customized for individual addresses. It covers St. Louis City, St. Louis County, St. Charles County, Franklin County and Jefferson County. You’ll be able to read all of the ballot language for all of the amendments and proposals, plus review all candidates for federal, state and local offices, including their statements about themselves and their positions on current issues. The guide also contains the names and “scores” for all judges up for retention. It’s a very useful tool. We should applaud the Post-Dispatch and the League of Women Voters for this huge undertaking–and we should be glad that we still have a daily newspaper in our region.

If you don’t subscribe to the daily edition, you can pick up a copy of the guide at your local library [the League of Women Voters has a volunteer corps that delivers bundles of them throughout the region]. Copies are also available at churches, synagogues and the offices of many non-profit organizations that request them.

Hint: Make yourself a “cheat sheet” to take to your polling place

It’s not cheating to take your own notes into the polling place. A so-called “cheat sheet” will help you remember what each proposition is about, and how you may have decided to vote when you had the time to review them in advance.

Note: I recently voted absentee in-person, and saw for myself the value of a cheat sheet. The electronic voting machines in St. Louis County include a review screen that appears after you have finished voting on the issues and candidates. That’s where you check to make sure that you voted the way you wanted to, and that the machine recorded your preferences correctly. But here’s the thing: On the ballot issues and amendments, the review screen does not state the issue associated with each amendment or proposition—so you might not remember what, for example, Proposition D was. That’s when a crib sheet listing the item and its topic comes in very handy. Here’s my crude version for St. Louis County.

Read, Google, Ask

Whatever you do, don’t get blind-sided by the ballot on Election Day. If you walk in prepared, you’ll congratulate yourself on being an informed voter. When you see the actual ballot—or scroll through the many screens—you’ll be glad you studied up. And the people in line behind you will thank you, too.

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