Overtime: Victory in Senate, now on to the House!
We did it! Today the U.S. Senate voted to block a proposed Bush administration rule change that would have meant the end of overtime pay for an estimated 8 million American workers. If you're one of the Dagley Dagley Daily readers who contacted your senator on the issue, please accept my heartfelt thanks. But the battle isn't over: now the measure goes to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, and even if it passes there, Mr. Bush has already announced he will veto it. So now I'm urging you to contact your congressional representative and let her or him know that you're paying attention and you want overtime preserved. Don't delay; do it today.
P.S. Here's the survey Buddy Don mentioned in his comment yesterday: Americans are far more worried about losing their health insurance than about another terrorist attack. Even though the U.S. spends far more per capita on health care than ANY OTHER NATION IN THE WORLD (more than TWICE the average of other industrialized nations), we don't get more or better care for that money. Besides which, an estimated 60 million Americans are uninsured, most of them unable to buy insurance at any price, and most of them working people with families. Meanwhile, rule changes are scheduled to go into effect November 10 that would bring back the so-called "wallet biopsy" for emergency care, which means hospitals will once again be able to turn away patients who can't show the means to pay for treatment. Those who feel compelled to keep on chanting, "We got the greatest country in the world" over and over may continue to do so, of course, since free speech is still protected by the Constitution. But you may be surprised to learn that there are many other nations that not only have all the civil liberties we do, but health care, too. They also have longer life expectancies and lower infant mortality.
But hey, at least the health-care workers who put in overtime will still get paid overtime, that is if overtime protection survives its trip to the House and then the White House.
posted by Janet Dagley Dagley @2:55 PM
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10.9.03 |
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