December meeting 08

Not too much on agenda this month.

We will continue to follow politics. We shall continue to document insurance woes.

Note: HB 676 is not a hot issue with current folks on the hill. We need to start again pushing for Universal Health Care in America.

We shall also reintroduce our "history" project to the folks.

For those whom cannot make it: Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and your family.

This is a page from World War Two canco newsletter. Bottom photo is of the front of the St. Louis plant at 3200 South Kingshighway.

Plant produced torpedos for the Navy. After the war it was

reconverted to a container plant producing food and beverage cans. Plant stayed open for container production until 1998.

American Can Company also had a plant in Pevely, Missouri. It closed in late 90s. It was a two-piece beverage can facility making cans for AB and varied soda cans.

083 american can plant

above is a schetch of 083 St. Louis American Can Plant. portions were torn down in the late 90s

Times article on GM retirees

A lot of GM retirees are quite frankly worried. Many autoworkers in the metro St. Louis area and some are kinfolks and friends.

This is recent New york Times article on the retiree aspect. Again, this is copyrighted story and I shall withdraw if copyright holders object. Article fair and one to keep in mind over the woes faced by retirees.

As a retired can worker whom got shafted by company after retirement, I have some empathy with these folks. Note: my ex-masters making money hand over fist and not in any cash trouble at all (Silgan containers). So are the other can masters whom closed operations in St. Louis like Rexam and Crown-Cork-Seal.

Note: when I started work at can makers in the 70s, American Can was a class act in comparision to the folks now.


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November 10, 2008
Some G.M. Retirees Are in a Health Care Squeeze
By NICK BUNKLEY
DETROIT — General Motors is living on borrowed time, spending more than $2 billion in cash a month and lobbying for a government bailout to keep it out of bankruptcy.
And for about 100,000 of its white-collar retirees, time is about to run out on G.M.’s gold-plated medical benefits.
To conserve its dwindling cash reserves, G.M. is eliminating lifetime health care coverage for its legions of retirees at the end of this year, leaving people like Ken Hewitt to fend for themselves in deciding how to cover their doctor’s bills and prescription drug costs.
“Everybody felt like they were set for life,” said Mr. Hewitt, 81, who retired from the former Chevrolet Engineering Center in 1982 and lives north of Detroit. “It’s been difficult, but the information they’ve given us has been beneficial. Still, when you get to be our age, it’s tough to make any big changes like that.”
G.M. has had little choice this year but to make deep cuts wherever it can, including benefits that were long considered sacred.
The move was announced in July as part of a package of broad cutbacks to increase the company’s liquidity, including a 20 percent reduction in payroll for salaried workers and suspension of G.M.’s annual stock dividend of $1 a share.
But even these and other measures have not been enough to stabilize the company’s finances, as the auto industry suffers from a weakening economy and tight credit that makes it hard for shoppers to get loans.
On Friday, G.M. warned that it might run short of cash by mid-2009, and it is asking for federal help with greater urgency.
G.M. has estimated that eliminating the white-collar retiree medical benefits, in addition to pay and staffing cuts in its current white-collar work force, will save the company about $1.5 billion annually. Union contracts prevent the company from revoking coverage for former factory workers. Ford and Chrysler already have cut health coverage for salaried retirees.
In fact, paying the cost of hospital stays, surgeries and expensive drugs for retirees, a group now larger than G.M.’s active work force, is a major reason the company’s financial woes are so great. G.M. says it spent $4.6 billion in 2007 on health care for its one million employees and retirees and their dependents.
Many retirees say they are aware of the burden these costs represent to the company, so they do not blame G.M. for cutting them off. Even so, they lament the demise of such a valuable perk.
“If the company goes out of business, we’ll lose everything anyway,” said Richard J. Moore, 70, who held management positions at G.M. plants in New York and Illinois before retiring in 1991 to suburban Phoenix. “You can’t survive by giving away everything.”
G.M.’s decision to halt health care benefits for salaried retirees at age 65 means that nationwide, former engineers, plant managers and executives are anxiously trying to decipher various combinations of Medicare and other insurance plans.
For months they have been poring over stacks of brochures and sitting through sometimes-baffling sales pitches ahead of an enrollment window that opens this month and ends Dec. 31. Because G.M. told them it would cover their health care for life, few studied up on Medicare and other coverage options as they approached retirement.
“Some of these people have been on G.M.’s plan for 40 or 50 years, and now all of this is thrown at them,” said Jack Dickinson, a G.M. retiree who runs the Web site OverTheHillCarPeople.com. “People are highly upset, confused and totally lost. The Medicare system is very hard for older people to tackle.”
Eliminating that confusion has been a major undertaking. G.M. scheduled 150 informational meetings in cities where its retirees are concentrated and hired a company called Extend Health to answer questions and help with Medicare enrollment. A company in Tennessee, My Part D USA, which provides personalized comparisons of different plans, has met with groups of G.M. retirees and is working with OverTheHillCarPeople.com to ease the transition.
“These people have never had to deal with Medicare at all,” said Karyn Blake of My Part D USA, a Detroit-area native whose uncles owned Cadillac and Oldsmobile dealerships. “They’re hearing different things from different salespeople, and they’re totally overwhelmed. I think they kind of feel abandoned.”
Many G.M. retirees have simply turned to one another for help, by getting together with former co-workers who live down the street, sharing information on Internet message boards, or discussing the issue at meetings of the numerous G.M. retiree clubs in Michigan, Florida and other states.
“It’s nothing that we ever had to think about before,” Barbara Spencer, 77, who worked in payroll for Buick and retired in 1988. On Thursday, she attended a meeting of the Buick retirees club to discuss health care options. “You don’t want to make a mistake,” she added.
To help retirees pay for their new coverage, G.M. is raising monthly pension payments by $300, which typically means $240 or $255 after taxes.
The cost of replacement coverage varies, depending on a person’s needs. Some find that they can get adequate benefits for about the same amount as their pension increase, but others must now find several hundred dollars more in their monthly budget.
“Anyone that thinks they can go out and replace insurance that you had with General Motors for $255 and get the same kind of coverage, I’d like to sell them a bridge in Wisconsin somewhere,” said Mr. Dickinson, 65, whose irritation with G.M.’s move is apparent in the headline “G.M. Robs Their Elderly Retirees” on his Web site atop information about the changeover.
In recent months, he said, the number of visitors to the site has doubled and its membership — for a one-time $25 fee — has grown rapidly, keeping him and a small team of volunteers busy for many hours each day.
Mr. Dickinson said G.M., regardless of its financial woes, was ignoring the steadfast loyalty that its retirees showed to the company by exclusively buying its vehicles and toiling there for decades.
“Many of these people had other jobs offered to them,” he said. “In 34 years with General Motors, I had many opportunities to go in other directions that were much more lucrative, but the promise of health care and pension for life was something that I had to consider.”
None, though, can look at the uncertainty confronting those who work for G.M., Ford and Chrysler today — along with the thousands whose jobs were eliminated — and feel they are the only ones being squeezed.
“I just hope they can recover and come back,” said Kenneth Shear Jr., 70, a former plant supervisor who retired in 1992 and now lives in Summerfield, Fla., in a community with a handful of other G.M. retirees. Mr. Shear was billed $52 to get a pacemaker several years ago, a $148,000 procedure, and never had to pay a health care bill in 31 years at G.M.
“I used to tell some of the guys that worked for me that this job is not going to be available to your kids,” he said. “I’m glad I had my career when I did.”

Obama can make quick, modest gains on health care

The following editorial is from the Mercury News. It is copyrighted and I shall withdraw if objected to by the owners.

As a matter of fact, I believe some of should be done and done within a few days of Obama moving into the White House. I do have some reservations about electronic record keeping (given the dismal records that even credit card data is hacked everyday--can you see the loss of confidential medical data?)

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Editorial: Obama can make quick, modest gains on health care
Mercury News Editorial
Article Launched: 11/09/2008 08:01:00 PM PST

The hardest choices for Barack Obama in the weeks to come won't be deciding what to do in his first months in office, but rather what he shouldn't try to do.

In Friday's news conference, he implied he still hoped to tackle everything he'd promised. Bill and Hillary Clinton can tell him a thing or two about that. Their early, botched attempt to pass comprehensive health care reform buried the cause for 16 years. While Obama feels pressured to move quickly, rushing into this one could again set reform back. If he believes, as we do, that it's extremely important, he won't take the chance.

But without stirring controversy, the new president can make an immediate, substantial down payment on improving health care to keep faith with his supporters and improve the lives of millions of Americans. Here's how:

Expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover as many children as possible when it comes up for renewal in March. The program has broad support in Congress, but it was cut during its last renewal to win President Bush's signature. As more families lose insurance in this recession, providing health care for kids will grow in importance.

Authorize the federal government to negotiate bulk purchases of Medicare prescription drugs.

Bush opposed this, but the Veterans Affairs already does it with great success. Using the federal government's bulk purchasing power will reduce Americans' costs by
billions of dollars.

Accelerate Bush's wise push for electronic medical records, which will save lives as well as cut costs.

Obama's campaign succeeded largely because of his disciplined, intelligent approach to the task at hand. When he becomes president, the economy has to be his first, second and third priorities. When times improve, health care reform will fare better.
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political forecasting

Hello

Although I am somewhat pleased at the results of the election, much work needs to be done. In Missouri, a lot of work will not be possible. Missouri is still a red state for the most part.

One way that the GOP will attempt next election success is simple---block anything and everything that does not give them political advantage. It had limited success this last congress and will most certainly be a tactic tried.

Divide and conquer is another tactic that will be tried. Not all those congress folks are liberals and more than a handful are conservative as a matter of fact.

Obama and Jay Nixon will have to come out forcefully. Bipartisanship is a myth and if they do not achieve some vast successes in their first year, reelection will become very difficult.

Soar 11-3 in St. Louis will monitor some of the political bills and progress. Do not hold your breath for things like "universal health care", justise for American workers and much more.
It will be a fight all the way.

Universal Health Care (Hb 676 type) is still a major goal for the group. We will do our part and we certainly hope others will do the same.

meeting notes Nov 08

We helt election. The current officers won reelection. Trustees whom won: Jerry, Bill and John D.

We did talk abit about the elections: McCain won in Missouri by a couple thousand votes (less than the totals for Ralph Nader by the way). Nixon won governer by wide majority. Good job folks whom voted and our thanks.

We did vote to "reup" our membership with the Alliance of Retired Americans.

December meeting will see our renewal of "goals" for the next couple years.

Note: although we did do well in elections, we should not take change for granted. Change will only occur if folks have the will to continue to reform. Far too often things of importance fall by the wayside because we are complacient.

We will have to double down and demand a universal health bill be passed like Hb 676. We are going to have to demand justice in insurance. Our work is far from done.

Trickle Down Economics

Thinking about voting Tuesday. Keep this article in mind when folks talk about those poor corporations whom have to shell out their hard earned money.

That corporations even "pay their fair share" is a myth. I am certain they passed all that savings to their customers.

One way that a company can "pay no taxes" is not to make any money. The other is to have buddies in congress. This of course is on top of corporate welfare, another Washington perk for our businesses.


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Most firms pay no income taxes -

Study finds that the majority of domestic and foreign corporations in the United States avoid paying federal income taxes.
By David Goldman, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: August 12, 2008: 4:38 PM EDT
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/12/news/economy/corporate_taxes/index.htm?eref=rss_topstories

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Nearly two-thirds of U.S. companies and 68% of foreign corporations do not pay federal income taxes, according to a congressional report released Tuesday.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined samples of corporate tax returns filed between 1998 and 2005. In that time period, an annual average of 1.3 million U.S. companies and 39,000 foreign companies doing business in the United States paid no income taxes - despite having a combined $2.5 trillion in revenue.
The study showed that 28% of foreign companies and 25% of U.S. corporations with more than $250 million in assets or $50 million in sales paid no federal income taxes in 2005. Those companies totaled a combined $372 billion in sales for the largest foreign companies and $1.1 trillion in revenue for the biggest U.S. companies.
The GAO report, which did not name any specific companies, said that some corporations reported zero income before deducting expenses while others said they had zero net income after deducting expenses. Either way, those companies reported no tax liability, the GAO said.
But many of the companies the report found had paid no tax were likely small businesses that pay other taxes. Generally, many small firms, because they do not have shareholders, are able to shift corporate income to individual income.
"Small businesses that are going to be liable for a lot of income tax are likely to use other tax forms so they only pay individual income taxes," said Eric Toder, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.
The study was requested by Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D, and Carl Levin, D-Mich., in an attempt to determine if corporations are abusing so-called transfer prices.
Transfer prices are charges on transactions between subsidiary companies within a larger corporate group. Companies may try to lessen their U.S. tax hit by improperly transferring income to foreign subsidiaries in countries with lower rates.
The GAO study did not attempt to determine if companies were abusing transfer prices, but it said that potential abuse of transfers could reduce the amount of taxes companies pay in the United States.
"The tax system that allows this wholesale tax avoidance is an embarrassment and unfair to hardworking Americans who pay their fair share of taxes," Dorgan said in a statement.
U.S. politicians disagree about how much income tax the government should levy on corporations. Currently the rate is 35%, but most foreign governments have set their rates below the U.S. level.
"The U.S. corporate tax rate stayed the same while foreign countries have drifted down, which increases the incentive for companies to report income in other countries," said Toder. "If the U.S. drops the rate to 30% but closes other tax loopholes, that may ultimately generate more tax revenue for the government."


First Published: August 12, 2008: 3:46 PM EDT

(used under fair use doctrine. Should copyright holders object, I shall remove this immediately)

anti-universal healthcare argument

Although I do not agree with the following and support universal healthcare in the United States, folks should be aware of the "anti" arguments for some do have valid concerns. The following is from the National Review, a conservative concern.

I am reproducing this under the fair use provisions and will withdraw if copywrite holders object:



October 21, 2008, 4:00 a.m.Universal Coverage KillsDon’t resist innovation.By Michael F. Cannon
In the final presidential debate, Barack Obama and John McCain continued to slug it out over health-care reform.

McCain accused Obama of wanting to put all Americans in the type of single-payer system that exists in Canada and England.

“Senator Obama wants to set up health care bureaucracies, take over the health care of America,” McCain warned.

“As he said, his object is a single-payer system.”McCain, Obama, and the voters would do well to keep in mind what this month — October 2008 — has to say about the quality of medical care when government is in charge.

Federal bureaucrats have announced that, as of this month, the Medicare program will no longer provide financial rewards to doctors and hospitals who harm patients. That is not a typo.

For more than 40 years, Medicare has provided financial rewards to providers when a patient requires follow-up care following a medical error.

Medicare is America’s experiment with universal coverage. Operated by the federal government, it provides health insurance to more than 40 million elderly and disabled Americans.

When Congress created Medicare in 1965, physicians feared the new program would reduce their incomes and autonomy.

To reduce physician opposition, Congress adopted the dominant way of paying physicians at the time, known as “fee-for-service” payment.

As the name suggests, when a physician provides a service, he collects a fee.

Provide another service, collect another fee — ad nauseam.

Physicians like fee-for-service payment, and have lobbied to preserve it.Yet providers often make mistakes that harm patients.

A nurse allows an air bubble to enter a patient’s bloodstream. A patient receives a transfusion with the wrong type of blood. A hospital fails to prevent pressure ulcers in a bed-ridden patient, or allows a patient’s surgical site to get infected. A surgeon operates on the wrong body part, as recently occurred at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Indeed, medical errors have reached epidemic proportions in America’s health-care sector. The Institute of Medicine estimates that as many as 100,000 Americans die in hospitals every year due to medical errors. That’s more than 20 times the number of Americans who have died in the five years of the Iraq war. Medication errors occur at a rate of one for every day a patient spends in a hospital, and injure an estimated 1.5 million Americans each year.

When a patient requires follow-up care to repair the damage done by a medical error, how does Medicare respond? It pays providers for the “care” that injured the patient, and then pays them again to repair the damage.

Imagine paying your contractor more because he knocked down the wrong wall.

Since Medicare is the largest purchaser of medical care in the nation, private insurers typically follow its lead, which means that all providers pay much less attention to medical errors than they should.Starting this month, Medicare will fix that. Sort of. After 40 years of rewarding providers who harm patients, Medicare will now force providers to bear some of the cost of their own mistakes.

Yet Medicare will still reward hospitals for many medical errors, including infections and medication errors, and will continue rewarding physicians for even more types of error.It doesn’t have to be this way. More than 60 years ago, markets devised health plans that discourage medical errors by forcing doctors and hospitals to bear the financial costs of all such errors. You know them as plans like Group Health Cooperative and Kaiser Permanente.

Doctors and patients who choose those plans tend to like them, and the plans receive high marks for quality, which suggests the financial incentives they use serve patients better. Why does it take Medicare more than 40 years to take such baby steps? Especially when the market developed a solution to this problem over 60 years ago?

The answer is that Medicare — like all universal-coverage schemes — is operated by the government, and government resists innovation. In this case, resistance to innovation kills

.McCain and Obama should remember what October 2008 symbolizes.

Especially Obama, who has voted to make it harder for seniors to choose private plans that reduce medical errors, and who wants to put everyone in a single-payer, Medicare-for-all program. That’s a frightening thought considering that Medicare — America’s experiment with universal coverage — has caused much unnecessary suffering.— Michael F. Cannon is director of health-policy studies at the Cato Institute and co-author of Healthy Competition: What’s Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It.

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although this article does raise valid concerns, those could be easily corrected by congress. The article does not in fact make a case that the "proposals" could be modified to change some of these woes.

Interesting? These folks wish to limit legal "damages" and lawsuits against malpractice; which seems rampent.

Upcoming elections

I know most of the group intends to get out and vote (their families as well). Soar has a good turn-out in the past several elections with close to 100% of our group reporting that they indeed voted.

How am I going to vote? Simply put, democrats have a much more impressive cast running and I am going to vote democratic for state and federal offices.

For the admendments and props? There are five statewide constitutional amendments or petition initiatives on the Nov. 4 ballot. Here are some facts about each and my recommendations for votes on some of them (and if you would like a longer explanation of any of these, I have full briefing documents available - simply reply with your request):

Amendment 1: This would add a new section to Article I of the Missouri Constitution – the state’s Bill of Rights – establishing English as the official language of Missouri government proceedings. Please join me in voting NO. This is yet another bull-sh** attempt to amend the state constitution for no good reason. State statutes already acknowledge that English is Missouri's common language. There is no history of government proceedings in Missouri being conducted in languages other than English. This initiative plays on anti-immigrant fears and would make Missouri a less welcoming place for global business and global tourism.

Amendment 4: This would make it easier for water and sewer districts to obtain tax-free grants and loans from the state. The Metropolitan Sewer District has many expensive jobs ahead to make sure our drinking water is safe, so I will be voting YES.

Proposition A: I'm sure you've seen those beautiful blue billboards with the shiny apple saying Prop A is for our schools and for our economy. Well, there's more to it than that. Prop A would remove Missouri's unique in the nation loss limit at casinos ($500 per two hour "cruise"). It would also cap the number of casinos at 13 (the 12 we have now and one more that is under construction), and it would increase gross receipts tax on casinos to 21 percent from the current 20, thus making more money available to education.

However, Prop A was written by the gambling industry, and they have raised at least $8.6 million to secure its passage. It is dubbed within the statutory language of the proposal as "The Schools First Elementary and Secondary Education Funding Initiative." That name has been criticized as misleading because it creates the appearance that the focus of Prop A is education measure rather gambling. It also should be noted that bills filed in the legislature to remove the loss limits offered a better deal to the state, raising gross tax receipts to 22 or 23 percent.

Finally, a group of superintendants are questioning whether Prop A does what advertisements claim, and they also suggest that no new funds would be allocated to St. Louis Public Schools through the ballot measure. Read more at: http://www.semissourian.com/article/20081014/NEWS01/710149907

Unless I hear better arguments, I'll vote NO on Prop A. I prefer an alternative - negotiate a better deal with the gambling industry in the Legislature and increase funding for our schools by making our income tax system more modern, fair, adequate, and sustainable ("the Tax Justice for a Healthy Missouri plan").

Proposition B: This initiative would create a Missouri Quality Homecare Council, an eleven-member public authority to ensure the availability and improve the quality of home care services by recruiting, training and stabilizing the personal care attendant workforce. The Council would consist of a majority of governor-appointed consumers and consumer advocates, providing them with a real voice to improve the home care system in Missouri and would fall under the Department of Health and Senior Services.
The Quality Home Care Council would recommend minimum qualifications and offer voluntary training for workers. It would also prepare Missouri’s long term care system for future growth and help contain Medicaid costs. In addition, it would allow workers to have a voice in the system through a union, if they elect to do so.
Similar councils have been created in several other states with positive results. Academic studies of one state’s program found that workforce turnover fell 57 percent over a five-year period. The supply of workers also increased by 54 percent, and consumers reported greater satisfaction with services following the wage and benefit improvements. I urge a YES vote on Prop B.


Proposition C: This is the Clean Energy Initiative which would require Missouri investor-owned electric utilities (Ameren, Empire, Aquila, and KCP&L) to get 15% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2021. Renewables are defined as clean sources of energy like wind, solar, landfill gas, biomass, and small hydroelectric projects. According to Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 26 states have passed a similar policy often known as a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES). Instead, Missouri has a voluntary standard that does not hold utilities accountable to use clean energy.
Currently, 86% of Missouri's electricity comes from coal, and pollution from these plants has been linked to asthma and lung disease. Coal fired power plants are also the biggest contributor to climate change, so finding cleaner ways to produce electricity is very important to our planet’s future.
Are you saying, "Sounds good, but what will it cost me?" The other states with this policy have not experienced rate increases. Instead, diversifying the power supply by developing America's homegrown renewable energy resources can help shield consumers from spikes in energy prices over time. And there’s an insurance policy for voters in the ballot language - the Clean Energy Initiative includes a 1% rate increase cap. I urge a YES vote on Prop C.

Diversifying energy needs with renewables would be good policy nationally
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Reminder for Election Day: Choose the Paper Ballot
Choose to use the Opti-Scan paper ballot. Overall it can save time, and we're expecting huge turnout on Nov. 4. In addition, the paper ballot offer more information and stand up better to a recount if one is needed.

There is a real possibility of recounts in varied areas and in the varied areas that many of our members reside.

November, 08 meeting

Nov is our election time. Election for Soar officers will be at our business meeting first Wendesday of month.

Few other items on agenda. Will talk about politics if we know who is clear presidential or state winner. Insurance: no new news on any front at this time.

Yes, I am running again as VP.

local soar bylaws

We also will submit to the international the following local bylaws for the Soar group: Note, these are not valid until ratified by International.
Bylaws were oked by International (2-07 addition)

proposed bylaws for our group Soar 11-3, St. Louis chapter of Soar.
NOTE; NO LONGER PROPOSED. INTERNATIONAL HAS OKED AS WRITTEN; JUNE, 2006
Preamble
We believe that the welfare of our members is paramount and our organization is dedicated to the advancement of their intrests and the working man's intrests.
Our aim will be to promote and protect the interest of the membership, to elevate the moral, intellectual, political and social conditions of all retired men and women, to assist each other in sickness and distress. Although retired, social and political events have endangered our rights and benefits as retired working persons and our families.
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ARTICLE ONE - Terms of Office
a) terms and conditions of office are specified in SOAR manual.

b) Eligibility for Elected Office
Section 1. All other candidates standing for elected office of the Local Union must be members and have been in continuous good standing for ninety (90) days prior to accepting nomination. The requirement for continuous good standing will be effective . This includes members of SOAR 11-3, PACE and Alliance for Retired Americans whom are in the SOAR 11-3 group.
Section 2. No member may run for or hold more than one elected office simultaneously, with the exception of chairs of standing committees. The President shall be member of all committees.
Section 3. For usage "proof" of good standing, sign in sheets provided at the meetings shall constitute proof as well as paid membership in SOAR 11-3.
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Article TWO- Recall
Section 1. A SOAR 11-3 officer, against whom charges have been filed, in accordance with the procedure established by of the International Constitution, may be suspended from office pending the outcome of the trial, by a two-thirds (2/3) vote at a membership meeting
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Article Three - General
Section 1. All Local Union officers (Soar 11-3), committees and other members handling funds or other property of the Union shall at the completion of their duties, turn over all papers, documents, funds, and/or other union property to the properly constituted Local Union officers.
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Article Four- Death of member/Next of Kin of member
Section 1. A bible will be provided to the surviror of the next of kin in the event of the death of a current SOAR 11-3 member or their immediate next of kin residing with the member.
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Article Five - Emergency Fund
Section one a) A minimum of $5.00 ($5) per member shall be kept in the local emergency fund.
b) Monies paid out of the emergency fund shall be paid only to or on behalf of SOAR members
c) A Notice of Motion shall be posted for 7 (seven) days in all units before a vote on any withdrawal of more than $ 300 ( 300 dollars) from the emergency fund.
d) the president can authorize expenditures of less than $100 (100) dollars for expenses one his own authority for SOAR meeting expenditures and emergencies upon consulation with the executive board. Between membership meetings or membership votes, the Executive Board shall be the highest authority of the Local and shall exercise general administrative authority and shall be empowered to act on behalf of the membership to the extent urgent business requires prompt and decisive action, subject to subsequent membership approval, but the Executive Board may not take action affecting the vital interests of the Local Union without prior membership approval
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Article Six - By-Law Changes
Section 1 a) Local union by-laws may be amended by two-thirds (2/3) majority vote at any meeting providing that Notice of Motion giving details of the amendment has been posted at least sixty (60) days prior to the vote, admendment changes can be proposed at a local level in writing to the president of the local chapter of SOAR for submission at next meeting (s). Posting shall be done on Soar website in event of such submission.
b) All provisions of all chartered local union by-laws not contained herein shall be of no effect until approved in writing by the national executive board nor shall they conflict with federal, state or local laws.
c) The national constitution shall take precedence over these by-laws.

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Article Seven- Additional duty of Treasurer
Section 1) The treasurer will, upon request of the individual Soar 11-3 member or spouse submit due payments to the international. Appropriate records shall be kept of such transaction.
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with elections next month and with our accepting nominations at the breakfasts across the state, keep in mind that only members in good standing can run for office and only "due" paying members in good standing can vote. If you owe, please submit to SOAR payment.

Thanks

AFL-CIO Cope political endorsements Missouri

This is the AFL political endorsements for Saint Louis area in Missouri. Please remember your vote is important and please take time to look at all the canidates

Political
Candidate Endorsements

Each AFL-CIO Central Labor Council has a Committee on Political Education (COPE). The COPE Committee interviews all candidates for public office within the jurisdiction of the CLC. The Committee then makes recommendations to the delegate body at a regular monthly meeting of the Central Labor Council. The delegates either approve or disapprove the recommendations. Approved recommendations for local offices such as counties, cities, school boards, fire districts, sewer districts, etc. then become the formal endorsement.

Recommendations for state and federal offices are forwarded to the State AFL-CIO for their consideration. The State AFL-CIO Executive Board then votes on these recommendations. The approved recommendations are presented to the delegates at the next State AFL-CIO convention for formal endorsement.

The National AFL-CIO makes endorsements for United States Presidential candidates.

MISSOURI AFL-CIO COPE ENDORSEMENT PRIMARY ELECTION 2008AUGUST 5, 2008
U.S. PRESIDENTBarack Obama (D)

GOVERNOR:Jeremiah (Jay) Nixon (D)
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR:Sam Page (D)
SECRETARY OF STATE:Robin Carnahan (D)*
TREASURER:Clint Zweifel (D)
ATTORNEY GENERAL:OPEN

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE:1 Wm. Lacy Clay (D)*2 Mike Garman (D)3 Russ Carnahan (D)*4 Ike Skelton (D)*5 Emanuel Cleaver II (D)*6 Kay Barnes (D)7 NO ENDORSEMENT8 Jo Ann Emerson (R)* 9 OPEN

STATE SENATE:1 Joan Barry (D)3 Dennis Riche (D) Kevin Engler (R)*5 Robin Wright-Jones (D)7 Neal St. Onge (R)9 Yvonne Wilson (D)*11 Victor Callahan (D)*13 Timothy Green (D)*15 OPEN17 Sandra Aust (D)19 Chuck Graham (D)*21 OPEN23 Tom Dempsey (R)*25 OPEN27 Linda Sanders (D)29 NO ENDORSEMENT31 Chris Benjamin (D)33 Eric Reeve (D)

House of Representatives:1 Keri Cottrell (D)2 Rebecca McClanahan (D)*3 Mike Hepler (D)4 Rick Oswald (D)5 Mike Waltemath (D)6 Rachel Bringer (D)*7 Harry Wyse (D)8 Tom Shively (D)*9 Paul Quinn (D)* 10 Terry Witte (D)*11 Ed Schieffer (D)*12 OPEN13 David Hurst (D)14 OPEN15 Michael Niemeyer (D)16 Kristy Manning (D)17 OPEN18 OPEN19 OPEN20 OPEN21 Kelly Schultz (D)22 Gail Brown (D)23 Stephen Webber (D)24 Chris Kelly (D)25 OPEN26 Joe Aull (D)*27 Ed Wildberger (D)*28 Mark Sheehan (D)29 Martin Rucker (D)*30 OPEN31 Trent Skaggs (D)*32 Jason Grill (D)*33 Terry Stone (D)34 OPEN35 OPEN36 OPEN37 Mike Talboy (D)*38 Ryan Silvey (R)*39 Beth Low (D)*40 John Patrick Burnett (D)*41 Shalonn (Kiki) Curls (D)*42 Leonard (Jonas) Hughes IV (D)*43 Roman Lee LeBlanc (D)44 Amy Coffman (D)45 Jason Holsman (D)*46 Kate Meiners (D)*47 OPEN48 Will Kraus (R)*49 Tom McDonald (D)50 Michael Brown (D)*51 Ray Salva (D)*52 Paul LeVota (D)*53 Curt Dougherty (D)*54 Gary Dusenberg (R)*55 OPEN56 Brian Yates (R)*57 Talibdin (TD) El-Amin (D)*58 James Morris (D)59 Jeanette Mott Oxford (D)*60 Jamilah Nasheed (D)*61 Chris Carter (D)62 Peter Tsahiridis (D)63 Tishaura Jones (D)64 Rachel Storch (D)*65 Michele Kratky (D)*66 Michael Vogt (D)*67 OPEN68 NO ENDORSEMENT69 Gina Walsh (D)* 70 Sharon Pace (D)71 Vernon Harlan (D)72 Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D)*73 Steve Brown (D)74 Tony George (D)*75 Bert Atkins (D)76 Michael Spreng (D)*77 Michael Corcoran (D)*78 Margo McNeil (D)79 Albert (Al) Liese (D)*80 NO ENDORSEMENT81 Donald Krank (D)82 Jill Schupp (D)83 Jake Zimmerman (D)*84 NO ENDORSEMENT 85 Vicki Lorenz Englund (D)86 Joseph Gambino (D) 87 Mark Zoole (D)88 NO ENDORSEMENT 89 OPEN 90 Sam Komo (D)*91 Jeanne Kirkton (D) 92 OPEN 93 OPEN 94 OPEN 95 OPEN 96 Patricia (Pat) Yaeger (D)*97 OPEN98 Jim Mense (D)99 Mike Sutherland (R)* 100 Sue Schoemehl (D)* 101 Tim Meadows (D)*102 Jeff Roorda (D)* 103 Ron Casey (D)* 104 Joseph Fallert Jr. (D)*105 Michael Frame (D)*106 Steven Tilley (R)*107 Archie Camden (D)108 Jacob Hummel (D)109 OPEN 110 Belinda Harris (D)*111 Tod DeVeydt (D) 112 OPEN113 Al Mueller (D) 114 NO ENDORSEMENT 115 NO ENDORSEMENT 116 NO ENDORSEMENT 117 NO ENDORSEMENT 118 OPEN 119 NO ENDORSEMENT 120 Kristi Kenney (D) 121 Jim Jackson (D)122 Mike McGhee (R)* 123 Juan Alonzo (D)124 Luke Scavuzzo (D)*125 Carla Keough (D)126 Linda Marie Crane (D)127 NO ENDORSEMENT128 NO ENDORSEMENT 129 NO ENDORSEMENT 130 NO ENDORSEMENT131 NO ENDORSEMENT 132 Charles Dake (D) 133 NO ENDORSEMENT134 NO ENDORSEMENT135 Nancy Hagan (D)136 Nick Beatty (D)137 Charlie Norr (D)*138 Sara Lampe (D)*139 OPEN 140 NO ENDORSEMENT 141 Ron Shawgo (D)142 NO ENDORSEMENT 143 Cathy Hilliard (D)144 OPEN 145 NO ENDORSEMENT 146 NO ENDORSEMENT147 NO ENDORSEMENT148 NO ENDORSEMENT149 Wayne Bledsoe (D) 150 OPEN 151 NO ENDORSEMENT152 J.C. Kuessner (D)*153 NO ENDORSEMENT 154 NO ENDORSEMENT 155 Nancy Pope (D) 156 Michael Winder (D) 157 Scott Lipke (R)* 158 NO ENDORSEMENT 159 Billy Pat Wright (R)* 160 NO ENDORSEMENT 161 Steve Hodges (D)* 162 Terry Swinger (D)* 163 Tom Todd (D)* 6/20/08

new credit card bill passes house

New credit card rules passed the house this last week. This still has to pass the Senate and get signed by number one to become law.

Law improves situation, but still long way from justice to consumers. Clay and Carnahan were co-sponsors of this bill. Akin from north county voted against the bill and Kenny H. did not vote.




H.R.5244 Title: To amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish fair and transparent practices relating to the extension of credit under an open end consumer credit plan, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] (introduced 2/7/2008) Cosponsors (155) Related Bills: H.RES.1476 Latest Major Action: 9/24/2008 Received in the Senate. House

SUMMARY AS OF: 2/7/2008--Introduced.
Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2008 - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to prohibit a creditor from using certain adverse information, including information in a consumer report or any change in a consumer's credit score, as the basis for increasing any annual percentage rate (APR) of interest on the consumer's outstanding balance under an open end consumer credit plan, except for actions or omissions of the consumer directly related to such account. (Thus eliminates the universal default for credit already outstanding.)
Bars a creditor from changing any term of the contract or agreement of an open end consumer credit plan until contract renewal, except for specific material reasons already contained in the contract or agreement.
Requires advance notice of credit card account rate increases.
Authorizes a consumer who receives such notice to: (1) cancel the credit card without penalty or the imposition of any fee; and (2) pay any outstanding balance that accrued before the effective date of the increase at the APR and in the repayment period in effect before notice was received.
Prohibits a creditor from imposing interest on credit repaid within the interest-free repayment time period. (Thus prohibits double cycle billing).
Prohibits the imposition of fees on any outstanding balance on a credit card account attributable only to accrued interest on previously repaid credit.
Requires each periodic statement of account to provide specified information on obtaining the payoff balance.
Prohibits a creditor from furnishing information to a consumer reporting agency concerning a newly opened credit card account until the consumer has used or activated the credit card.
Details mandatory pro rata payment allocations by a creditor.
Authorizes a consumer to opt-out of creditor authorization of over-the-limit transactions if fees are imposed.
Restricts the frequency of over-the-limit fees.
Specifies the contents of credit card price and availability information the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System must collect and make public semiannually.
Prescribes a standard for the initial issuance of subprime or "fee harvester" cards (accounts requiring first-year fee payments in excess of 25% of the total amount of credit authorized).

MAJOR ACTIONS:
2/7/2008
Introduced in House
9/16/2008
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Financial Services. H. Rept. 110-857.
9/23/2008
Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by recorded vote: 312 - 112 (Roll no. 623).
9/24/2008
Received in the Senate.

Illinois vote on Economic bailout

Morning:

This is how the fearless ones voted in Illinois on yesterday's bailout package.


How the U.S. House from Illinois voted:
voted
• Rep. Melissa Bean (D-8)
Y
• Rep. Judy Biggert (R-13)
N
• Rep. Jerry Costello (D-12)
N
• Rep. Danny Davis (D-7)
Y
• Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-5)
Y
• Rep. Bill Foster (D-14)
Y
• Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-4)
Y
• Rep. Phil Hare (D-17)
Y
• Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-2)
N
• Rep. Timothy Johnson (R-15)
N
• Rep. Mark Kirk (R-10)
Y
• Rep. Ray LaHood (R-18)
Y
• Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-3)
N
• Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-16)
N
• Rep. Peter Roskam (R-6)
N
• Rep. Bobby Rush (D-1)
N
• Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-9)
Y
• Rep. John Shimkus (R-19)
N
• Rep. Jerry Weller (R-11)
NV
(NV is no vote)

How Missouri voted on bailout

Morning:

This is how our fearless leaders in Missouri voted on the proposed bailout yesterday:


How the U.S. House from Missouri voted:
voted
• Rep. Todd Akin (R-2)
N
• Rep. Roy Blunt (R-7)
Y
• Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-3)
Y
• Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-1)
N
• Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-5)
N
• Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-8)
Y
• Rep. Sam Graves (R-6)
N
• Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-9)
N
• Rep. Ike Skelton (D-4)
Y
-------------------
note: liberals voted the same as conservatives.

debate schedule 08

This is a tenative timetable for the presidential debates (and VP as well)

Debate schedule:

Sept 26th - Domestic Policy - Univ of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
Oct 2nd - VP Debate - Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Oct 7th - Townhall format - Belmont Univ, Nashville, TN
Oct 15th - Foreign policy - Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY

All 4 debates will begin at 8pm CT, and last for 90 minutes. All 4 debates will be broadcast on the major broadcast networks, including CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX. They will also be aired on cable news channels such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and C-SPAN. PBS will also televise some of the debates and it is not known how many.

PBS is probably the best to watch for they limit talking heads comments during the discussions. If one watched the conventions, talking heads regularly interrupted and folks missed critical speeches and information.

Perhaps we shall have a treat and the folks finally discuss positions instead of nonsense, half truths and general waste of time.

Michael Moore's new movie "Slacker"

Michael Moore is releasing his "update" on Farenheit 911 this month and it is free on the internet. The title is "Slacker"

http://slackeruprising.com/ is the site to contact.

Will try to "show" bits of this at the next meeting for comments for it will have useful information for next election.

Moore is supporting Obama. Moore is a political activist and filmaker noted for his "troublemaking" efforts. Most right wing pundits hate the man. Moore produced the movies Sicko and Farenheit 9-11 among other works.

I am proud to say that most of the members of SOAR 11-3 have seen the movie Sicko. Many have seen other Moore movies as well.

Certainly a topic to be reviewed at our next meeting On Wendesday, October 1st.

Politics update and analysis

Within our merry little band (Soar 11-3), democrats would win both the govenor's race in Missouri and Obama would be president. However, polls indicate that outside our group in a general election, McCain would win Missouri substantially (average 5 to 7 percent) and Nixon would win gov with about 3% (latest statewide polling). Still too early to even project a winner, but trends are that Missouri will still be a red state in the presidential elections.

Our group will have a good turnout and polls throughout state will have a good turnout (if political pundits and polls are to be believed).

If folks wish to help more: last day to register to vote in upcoming November 08 election is Oct 8th. The sad truth is that only about half the folks that can vote actully are registerd and do so in an election. Every time there is an election, folks proclaim what a good turn-out, but the sad truth is that a good portion of the public does not vote.

Make sure folks in your household are registered to vote, perhaps some of your neighbors. Make sure they can get to the polls in November. Stand up and be counted.

Our group has had a proud turnout in elections.

Personal note: I do like John McCain and believe him a patriot. However, every time he opens his mouth, I find I cannot vote for him. Taxing my meager insurance benefits, 100 year war in MidEast, private Social Security, continuing Bush economic legacy and more makes this boy not on my most favored political list.

Same can be said of Kenny boy. Kenny would keep Blunt agenda alive and well in Jefferson City and that would keep Missouri as a third world enity. Personally speaking, Blunt should not even been a dogcatcher in this state much less the current occupent of the mansion in Jefferson City. Same can be said of Kenny.

Unemployment for Blunt and Kenny should begin next January if voters have any sense.

If you doubt this, look up voting records of both.

Major woe

The number one woe of our retirees and other I have talked with is insurance.

In talking with varied retirees from other organizations and unions, folks on medicare/medicaid, our people, insurance is not as good and far more expensive and complicated than during their working careers. In fact, it is a disaster for many.

Most of our folks on medicare for instance are expected to do more reading and work than an average congressman does in a year. "Paperwork reduction" is they do less paperwork and you do more work.

One solution is rapid passage of HB 676, Medicare for All American's Act. Currently this bill is stalled in committee. It will die in that committee is my belief as have versions of this bill has died in committee since the Truman administration.

Perhaps next administration will pass it, but elements of this bill was proposed by the "bull Moose Party" in 1913. Do not hold your breath.

I have found out that many "union folks" do not know of this proposal. That is sad, very sad for health care is one of the top issues of America. Yes, AFL-CIO and SOAR has endorsed this, but somehow that info did not filter to the "rank and file" of many union families.

Such a bill as 676 is long overdue. SOAR 11-3 after the elections will redouble our efforts to spred the word and we call for all union and social folks to do the same. Force the next congress and president to address this critical issue. Soar (both our little band and national) has been a leader in this area for a long time. Soar 11-3 signed onto this over three years ago.

Time for a little justice in the land.

plans and info for upcoming meeting September

Morning folks:

At meeting in September, we have on agenda:

1. discussion of upcoming Soar elections for 11-3 in detail

2. discussion of "pending projects"

3. Any new information of lawsuits, insurance changes and the like.

4. State and national election updates. Note: We have endorsed for governor of Missouri Mr. Jay Nixon; a vastly superior canidate than others.

5. Next mega-project after elections.

6. time permitting, further discussion of Hb 676 and the varied stands of canidates on the topic of national health care insurance.

HELLO

I am trying this format to help further electronic communications for the group in St. Louis and other places. A relative novice at this, please forgive any gaffs and errors on my part.

SOAR 11-3 has been around for five years and we have tried varied formats and means to effect communications. Hopefully folks will find this a better format.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/slsoarpac/ has been the main page for St. Louis Soar 11-3 activities and we shall keep those pages.

From main yahoo page (shortened version):


This is a group dedicated to getting out information to retired labor and family in the St. Louis, Missouri area. We are SOAR; St. Louis chapter (retired United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO) and our organization represents retired steelworkers in several counties on both sides of the river including Jefferson, St. Louis city, county, Franklin counties (Mexico, Missouri group pending). We invite retirees to share information and ideas.

The official meeting time and place of Soar 11-3 is at the Bridgeton Community Center4201 Fee Fee RoadBridgeton, MO at 9:00 Am; the first Wendesday of month. We also have three varied breakfasts located in three seperate locations on different dates during the month. This includes the South group meeting on the second Thursday of month at Gingham's at 7333 S Lindburg (second Tuesday some of exAmerican Can Company meet in seperate meeting) both breakfasts about 9 AM. The far south group in Farmington meets at Ryan's on the second Thursday at 11 to noon. North group has breakfast at the old country kitchen after the meeting at about 11 on the 1st.Retirees from Can industry are the primary members, but all retirees are welcome.

Members of PACE and Alliance are welcome to join. Retirees across the land are getting some very shabby treatment and our leaders do little or nothing to solve the problems except talk. Companies are looking for ways to get out of paying benefits and the list of companies doing wrong to their retirees is growing. This group does not intend to go "quietly into the night" if you know what I mean.

Note: that was written some time ago and remains current. Note, our leaders or still talking and little real action although they did raise minimum wage since this posting.


We most certainly will post information about meeting. Politics are our cup of tea and we are very active in state and local politics.