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In an open letter today, Sen. Feinstein called on California’s congressional delegation to put aside the settled issues like Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal, and move on to focus on improving California’s economy.

So imagine my disappointment today when California Congressman Duncan Hunter introduced legislation that would paralyze repeal efforts.

Rep. Hunter knows his legislation has no chance of success. Should it pass the House, it will never be approved by the Senate or signed by the President.

Worse, this effort is a distraction from the real work at hand. California is faced with an unemployment rate of 12.4%, a crushing budget shortfall, alarming health insurance rate hikes, dangerous water shortages and a broken immigration system. Now is not the time for distractions that have no chance of becoming law.

Will you join me and the Courage Campaign in asking your member of Congress to reject this legislation, and instead focus on real priorities for Californians and the rest of America?

The new House leadership has shown that they aren’t going to let any sleeping dogs lie.  But the fact is that even General Casey has said that he doesn’t need that specific power to certify:

During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in December, some service chiefs – including Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey – testified that they didn’t feel the need to have the responsibility of issuing certification for repeal because Defense Secretary Robert Gates would adequately represent their voice going forward.

“I am very comfortable with my ability to provide input to Secretary Gates and to the Chairman that will be listened to and considered,” Casey said. “So you could put it in there, but I don’t think it’s necessary.” (Washington Blade)

Please consider taking a moment to join Sen. Feinstein and the Courage Campaign in calling on our Congressional delegation to work on the real issues that face California and the nation.

I’ve written a bit about MICRA in the past, but here it is in short form. It puts a cap of $250,000 on non-economic damages for victims of medical malpractice. While that may sound like a lot, in fact it has killed medical malpractice in the state.  Cases with the slightest bit of complication, or those that go to trial can cost over $100,000 to bring, and the limited recoveries mean that attorneys can’t afford to bring the cases. It just doesn’t make economic sense.  So for cases where the victim does not have a high expectation of future income (i.e. full-time parents, children and the elderly), they just never get the opportunity to hold the perpetrators accountable.

The $250,000 cap has been steady since the 1970s, but the supporters say it cannot be raised for fear that we will kill the medical industry with insurance premiums.  Except for the fact that the promised decreases in premiums never really came until Prop 103 regulated the insurance industry.  The problem with malpractice insurance isn’t malpractice law, it’s the insurance industry.

Lucinda Finley, Raichle Professor of Law at the State University of New York at Buffalo Law,  said that study after study shows that caps on medical malpractice awards, while hurting the severely injured, do not lower malpractice premiums. “Caps do not lead to reductions in insurance premiums for doctors; there is no evidence to support any claim that they do or will lead to reduced premiums,” Ms. Finley said, citing a major report issued by the federal General Accounting Office in late August 2003. “Spikes in insurance premiums are caused much more by market and investment cycles in the insurance industry and insurance-industry underwriting and reserve policies than by any trends in the tort system, as numerous studies have concluded.” (Anayat Durrani)

The cap doesn’t change insurance rates, but does take away the accountability that the tort system provides.  The limit is hurting victims of malpractice and their families.  That case was made clear in an op-ed on Capitol Weekly last week:

My interest in MICRA, California’s law that limits pain and suffering compensation to $250,000 in medical malpractice cases, is twofold: I am both a physician and the son of a victim of profound medical malpractice. I have firsthand experience with the implications and practical effect of MICRA.

From our family’s perspective, the MICRA cap on pain and suffering is a massive impediment to obtaining justice when families like ours see a loved one become the victim of medical negligence.

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This is a discussion about accountability and justice, which the public deserves. This is all about the patients, period.

The comments of Dustin Corcoran, CEO of the California Medical Association, are even more troubling. “The trial attorneys want to legislate their way to a big pay day.  (He doesn’t) think it’s much more than that to them.” Our family interprets Mr. Corcoran’s comments as a gross misrepresentation of the issue. The MICRA dispute is about learning the truth and obtaining justice when the health care establishment makes egregious errors and refuses to be accountable.

We would remind Ms. McCarthy and Mr. Corcoran about the central tenet of public health: Social Justice. (CapitolWeekly)

I highly recommend you read the full op-ed on MICRA.   The author’s case is a study in how medical professionals can cover up the truth to cover their own hides.  Look, the point of the tort system, whether the AMA will acknowledge it or not, isn’t to extract large sums of money, rather it is a consumer protection of last resort. It serves as a policing mechanism for those doctors who have failed their patients.  All too often, self-regulation has failed in this country. And without the tort system, victims really have no recourse.

So, as it appears the discussion of MICRA reform has begun, let’s hope we don’t get caught up in the tired old trope of doctors vs lawyers, and try to remember the real goals of our legal system.

I just got back from the annual San Francisco Labor Council Martin Luther King Day Breakfast. Of course, it was a jam-packed event featuring a speech from our new interim mayor, Ed Lee, as well as some speeches by local youth discussing the effect that King had on their lives.

As I was listening, particularly to the children, I was struck by something.  This was a leader that was assassinated over a generation ago, yet he is just as real today as he was that day in Memphis when his life was cut far too short.  Yet, while his martyrdom for the cause of equality will have an effect on all Americans, and hopefully the entire human race, his legacy as an active leader on the day-to-day front lines for equality is astounding.

Along with leaders like Dorothy Height and Bayard Rustin, they brought about change in a revolutionary timeline. And yet, it is clear that King’s message goes beyond one group, he belongs to all of us now.  He was a leader that strove for equality for all, for the rich and the poor. He fought for those who were unpopular, and made difficult decisions to do so.

He was never one to back down from a fight, and he was a man who understood the power of organizing.  Even when it is bleakest, we can and must continue to keep our heads up, and stay in the struggle.

Have a good holiday, and consider this an open thread for any discussion.

In the comments to this post, stevefromsacto mentioned that Tom Berryhill (R-Central Valley) said that the budget deficit was not “their” (meaning Republicans) problem. So, no reason to do anything that would endanger them in electorally of course.

Well, funny thing about that.  Berryhill also happens to be one of two GOP committee chairs. the one member of the GOP Senate minority with a chairmanship.  Or, well he used to be anyway:

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has penned a letter asking Rules Committee members to approve handing off the Oakdale Republican’s gavel to newly elected Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres.

“Each member of the California State Senate represents nearly one million people and we have a duty, regardless of party or philosophy, to actively engage in the serious work necessary to address the challenges confronting California,” Steinberg wrote in the letter.(Capitol Alert)

I guess that shoe leather is mighty tasty. Check the letter from Steinberg over the flip.

Well, it’s been just over a week since the end of the Steve Poizner era at the Insurance Commissioner’s office, and it didn’t take long to see the changes.  Right of the gate, Jones has come out fighting the massive insurance premium hikes:

Commissioner Dave Jones has already urged Blue Shield of California to refrain from raising rates for the third time in five months. The increases would drive up consumers’ bills as much as 59% cumulatively.

On Tuesday, Jones notified Aetna Inc., Anthem Blue Cross and PacifiCare that he also is focusing on them. The insurers did not respond immediately to Jones’ request. (LA Times)

While Poizner never officially took insurance company money for the gig, it did manage to find its way into his ballot measure accounts.  Pretty funny how that goes.  And while he did occasionally go after the massive increases, his policy against them was more talk than anything else.  I think there are a lot of California consumers that would like to see a little more action from Jones than his predecessor.  Knowing Dave Jones, I’d be shocked if we didn’t see just that.

Let’s face it, getting legislation passed benefiting the immigrant community is challenging.  And with our previous governor, it was all the more difficult.  But the times have changed at the Horseshoe, and Asm. Gil Cedillo isn’t giving up on his efforts.

Cedillo’s bills would apply to undocumented immigrants who have attended California high schools, adult schools or technical schools for three years or more, graduated or attained an equivalent degree from them, and filed an application to legalize their status.

The two bills, Assembly Bills 130 and 131, would benefit the “best and brightest” of undocumented immigrants, who came to the United States as children through no choice of their own and embraced the English language and culture — and performed well in state schools, Cedillo said.(SacBee)

Given the demographic shifts of California, we are going to need all the well-educated workers that we can get.  That is where our economy is moving, and we just can’t be turning away hard-working and successful young students because their parents did something wrong when they were children.

Certainly we can all agree that we need to work to improve the Latin American economy so that we can reduce the number of undocumented immigrants.  However, at the same time, we shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.  If we have educated workers here, now, let’s put them to work in growing our economy.