Category: Kim Forrest
DC Pushing for Pre-NH Primary
By Kim Forrest
WASHINGTON—New Hampshire’s celebrated role as the host of the first presidential primary in the country is being challenged by the nation’s capital.
On Jan. 21, District of Columbia Council member Jack Evans introduced a bill that would move the city’s 2004 primary up to Jan. 10, , more than two weeks before New Hampshire’s, which reportedly has been tentatively scheduled for Jan. 27. All 12 of the other D.C. council members have co-sponsored the bill.
According to New Hampshire statute 653:9, the state’s presidential primary shall be held “seven days or more immediately preceding the date on which any other states shall hold a similar election.” However, the District of Columbia is not a state, and New Hampshire, therefore, can easily ignore the challenge if it chooses.
Sean Tenner, executive director of the DC Democracy Fund, a political action committee, said that holding the first primary would “bring national attention to the fact that [D.C. residents] can’t elect our own representatives and senators.”
Currently, the District of Columbia does not have senators or voting representatives in Congress, except for Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who can vote in committee but not on the House floor.
Tenner also said that about 600,000 people live in Washington, D.C., which is more than in the state of Wyoming and comparable to states such as Alaska, North Dakota, and Vermont, who all have representation in Congress. D.C. residents, he added, pay extremely high income taxes, and many of its residents were killed fighting for the country in Vietnam. Making the District’s primary first, Tenner said, is “the only outlet we have” to expose the lack of representation.
He added that although the bill suggests the city’s primary would be moved up from March to Jan. 10, it might be pushed to the following Monday to avoid holding it on the Jewish Sabbath.
Timothy Cooper, a longtime D.C. voting rights activist, echoed Tenner’s sentiments. “D.C. citizens have been disenfranchised in [their] own national legislature for 200 years,” he said. “By pushing D.C.’s primary to first in the nation, we hope to publicize the District’s lack of voting rights before the eyes of the public and the eyes of the world.”
John Ralls, Councilman Evans’s chief of staff, said that moving up the primary would be a “great way to highlight the unfair treatment D.C. receives.”
He added that he felt that the District “is a much more accurate reflection of America and certainly the Democratic Party,” noting that unlike states such as New Hampshire and Iowa, D.C. has a “good cross-section between African Americans, Caucasians and Hispanics.”
However, according to New Hampshire Democratic Party chairwoman Kathy Sullivan, Democratic National Committee (DNC) rules say that no state, territory or district can have a presidential primary or caucus before Feb. 3. An exemption is traditionally given to New Hampshire’s primary and Iowa’s caucuses. Sullivan, who sits on the DNC’s rules and bylaws committee, said the time for the District to have brought up this issue was over a year ago.
“I fully support the efforts of the District of Columbia to get full voting representation in Congress,” she said, adding that if D.C. were to break the rules on primaries, there would be “certain penalties.”
Sullivan added: “I understand [D.C.’s] interests. It’s not right that you have people…that pay federal income taxes who don’t have full voting rights.”
DNC spokesman Guillermo Meneses, meanwhile, said, “We are confident that we are going to find common ground…on a primary date that is fair, just and within the party’s rules.”
Republican National Committee (RNC) spokesman Dan Ronayne said the proposed Jan. 10 primary is “not permissible under RNC rules.”
New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner said the potential for D.C. to move up its primary date is “of concern to us,” but added that “we’ve never demanded that we be the first event.” State law gives him flexibility to set the primary date, he said, adding that New Hampshire’s official primary date will be set in the fall.
Whether or not Washington, D.C,. hold’s the first primary in the nation, Sullivan said that the central idea behind D.C.’s push is a valid one. “I don’t see this as a New Hampshire versus D.C. issue,” she said. “What’s happening is D.C. is trying to find a vehicle to publicize a wrong that needs to be addressed.”
Published in The Keene Sentinel, in New Hampshire.
Covering Uninsured, Controlling Costs, Top Health Care Issues for NH Voters
By Kim Forrest
WASHINGTON—In survey results released Tuesday, New Hampshire Democratic voters said covering the uninsured was their main health care concern, while Republicans said controlling health care costs was the principal issue.
The survey, unveiled at a press conference organized by the American Association of Health Plans (AAHP), a group that represents health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and other managed health care plans, comes about a year before the 2004 New Hampshire presidential primary.
The telephone survey, which asked mainly about voters’ opinions on health care, was conducted from January 26-30. Voters were surveyed in both Iowa, which holds the nation’s first presidential caucuses, and New Hampshire, which conducts the first primary. New Hampshire participants were selected through random digit dialing and screened for their likelihood to vote in the 2004 primary election. In all, 400 likely Democratic and 400 likely Republican voters were polled in New Hampshire.
According to the 2001 census, 38.7 million people nationwide do not have health insurance. Karen Ignagni, president of AAHP, who spoke at the press conference, said politicians should re-ignite the debate on changing health care. “The voters are growing impatient,” she said in a statement. “The health care issues that are important to them have all too often been sidelined by sound bites and 30-second commercials.” She added that health care “is sure to be one of the top issues of the presidential campaign.”
Among New Hampshire Democrats, 27 percent named covering the uninsured as the health care-related issue that would have the most impact on their choice of a presidential candidate. On the Republican side, 24 percent chose controlling costs as their principal concern.
As for a government-run health care system, New Hampshire Republicans overwhelmingly oppose such a structure, with 71 percent against it. Among New Hampshire Democrats, 51 percent favor such a plan.
Q. Whitfield Ayres, president of Ayres, McHenry & Associates Inc., the public opinion research firm that conducted the study, said these results indicate that most of the country is opposed to government-run health care. “While Democrats are split, Republicans are so overwhelmingly opposed, that if you put the two together, there’s going to be a majority of the country in opposition to a government-run health care system,” he said at the press conference.
While New Hampshire Democrats and Republicans had their differences, there was still some common ground, especially on allowing consumers to select less expensive health care plans. Ignagni said the issue of choice will “undoubtedly be a very big political discussion.”
At least half the voters in each party said it was very important for senior citizens to be able to choose a Medicare managed health plan, meaning that there would be fewer physicians to choose from, but a lower cost.
Voters in both parties also said that all consumers should be able to choose lower-cost health plans, with fewer procedures covered. In the poll, 71 percent of New Hampshire Democrats and 84 percent of New Hampshire Republicans favored that idea.
In terms of problems between patients and their health plans, New Hampshire Democrats and Republicans alike felt that an independent appeals process is a more appropriate option for resolution than suing the health plan. “The reason is that consumers want their problems solved,” Ayres said, adding that an independent appeal is “the most expeditious way to get…problems solved.”
According to Ayres and Ignagni, many voters from both parties showed cynicism when it came to politicians’ intentions on health care reform, with 57 percent of New Hampshire Democrats and 78 percent of New Hampshire Republicans saying that politicians discuss health care to gain votes, not out of an actual desire to improve the system.
Ignagni said these results indicated that voters want candidates to be clear about their campaign proposals. “Voters are telegraphing a strong sense that they want the debates to be about real problems this time,” Ignagni said.
New Hampshire Democrats and Republicans also agreed on what the criteria for a good health care reform plan should be. Majorities of both party’s voters agreed that guaranteeing access to basic health care, controlling costs and making sure that patients can gain access to physicians’ quality and safety records were important issues. Although 55 percent of Republicans said that reforming the medical malpractice system was an important criterion, only 40 percent of Democrats did so.
“The bottom line is that there’s overwhelming support for the fundamental concepts of health care reform: access, quality, controlling costs,” Ayres said.
AAHP conducted the poll as the first step of its new campaign “to help ensure that candidates’ proposals and rhetoric are in line with voters’ top health care priorities,” the group’s statement said.
Walter Rohr, president of IPG, a Keene-based employee benefits firm, said he feels that voters who do not have health insurance will put more emphasis on that issue when voting than those who have health insurance but are unhappy with the high costs.
Published in The Keene Sentinel, in New Hampshire.
New Community Study for Segway
By Kim Forrest
WASHINGTON -- The public delivery date for Segway scooters is still a month away, but residents of Celebration, Fla., will be getting a sneak peak at the “human transporters” or HTs, as they are known.
Starting Saturday, a community study will monitor the effects of the Segways on the town. The yearlong study will “observe how and when people use their Segway HTs to commute to work, improve their mobility and how riders interact with their community and neighbors,” the company said in a statement.
Carla Vallone, communications director for Manchester, NH-based Segway, said the company was excited about the new program. “Celebration is a very unique opportunity in the sense that this is the first community in the world that’s going to have a condensed population of Segway HTs,” she said.
Segways have been growing in popularity, and are even available for purchase on Amazon.com. Vallone said that they have consistently ranked among Amazon’s top 200 sellers in its electronics store.
According to Keri Baugh, communications manager for Celebration Town Hall, 75 to 80 of about 6,000 Celebration residents have signed up for the study. They must receive special training before getting their Segway i167 models.
Participants will complete written questionnaires and verbal interviews on their use of the Segways. When the study is complete, they will receive a partial refund on Segway’s $4,950 price tag.
Located in Osceola County, Celebration was developed by the Walt Disney Co. In its statement, Segway said that it chose Celebration because of the “town's commitment to community development, its infrastructure of sidewalk and trails and their enthusiasm for zero-emission transportation alternatives.”
Baugh agreed that Celebration is a perfect choice for the study and that residents are showing a great deal of interest in it. “There’s quite a buzz from what we have seen,” she said. Baugh also noted that most residents will be using the battery-powered Segways in lieu of driving. “[Celebration] is a town that’s very focused on health and walking,” she said, and added that
some residents have told her that the Segways “will not replace their activity.”
Passengers on Disney Cruise Line have also been treated to a preview of the Segway, with the scooters available for rides on two of Disney’s cruise ships and on its Bahamian island, Castaway Cay. Angela Bliss, a spokeswoman for Disney Cruise Line, said that feedback has been very positive. “There’s been great, great guest feedback,” she said. “Some people are curious to try it, others just want their pictures taken on it.”
The ships’ captains and officers use them to get around the ships more efficiently Bliss said, adding that “it’s a great practical option for our officers.”.
Locally, Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) recently ended its five-month pilot program in which 10 Segways were leased and used by 15 meter readers throughout the state, in both rural and residential areas. The program ran from June to October.
“It did not hinder [meter readers] from doing their jobs,” Martin Murray, spokesman for PSNH, said, but noted that there were quite a few “curiosity delays,” in which local people would want to find out more about the new contraptions. Meter readers were soon given postcards to provide inquiring onlookers, with information about Segways printed on them.
Murray said that the trial was a very positive experience and that the utility has bought five Segways. The rented Segways, he said, “are in mid-winter storage at the moment but are expected to be back on the road in spring.”
Kim Carl, a meter reader for PSNH who works out of the Keene office, enjoyed her experience with the Segways, especially on hot days when she could get a “nice breeze” from cruising along, but said she didn’t like riding it for eight hours straight a day. She added that she enjoys walking.
Carl said that many residents were curious about the Segways. “[There were] a lot of people, a lot of questions,” she said, but meeting and talking to people was a positive experience. She said it was common for residents to take pictures and ask for rides.
Despite the fact that 33 states have approved legislation making Segways an option for use, the devices were recently banned on the sidewalks of San Francisco under a California law that allows cities to decide for themselves whether to allow the scooters.
Critics have said that the Segways are a safety hazard to sidewalk pedestrians. The HTs weigh 65 pounds and can travel up to three times as fast as an average pedestrian.
Ellen Vanderslice, president of America Walks, a Portland, Ore.-based national coalition of pedestrian advocates, said that she is “worried” about Segways on sidewalks, especially if they come into contact with pedestrians with sensory problems. However, she said, “it would be great to have more city streets devoted to lower-speed traffic” in lieu of cars. Segways would be a good replacement for cars, she said. But for now, “because we do have cars on streets, we share sidewalks, and it becomes an issue for pedestrians.”
Segway’s Vallone responded to the criticism by noting the many safety features of the Segway and its built-in system that reacts to body movements.
“Segway HTs were designed to be safe on the sidewalk from the beginning,” she said. “Of course, it’s very important that the rider uses utmost courtesy, and that they’re cautious and aware of their surroundings.”
Published in The Keene Sentinel, in New Hampshire.
Sununu, Gregg Seek Social Security Reform
By Kim Forrest
WASHINGTON –Senators John Sununu (R-NH) and Judd Gregg (R-NH) joined Senators and House members from both sides of the aisle yesterday in a press conference pushing for Social Security reform.
Led by Reps. James Kolbe (R-AZ) and Charles Stenholm (D-TX), both veteran Social Security activists, the lawmakers discussed the 2002 annual Social Security Trustees report, filed in September. The report concludes that under the existing system, by the year 2017, Social Security will be paying out more than it takes in.
The press conference echoed President Bush’s plea in his State of the Union address, to make Social Security “sound and reliable” by “offer[ing] younger workers a chance to invest in retirement accounts that they will control and they will own.”
Freshman Senator Sununu discussed the importance of taking immediate steps toward reform in a clear message. “To the extent that it is a tough issue it just underscores the need for working with our colleagues, working in a bicameral way,” he said. “We cannot leave this challenge or any other challenge to future generations, future Congresses or future presidents.”
Sununu also mentioned the growing bipartisan support for Social Security reform, saying, “It’s exciting to be able to stand up here with a pretty good-sized group, and I imagine that had this press conference taken place seven or eight or nine years ago… it might have been a lonely group.”
Senator Gregg mentioned the size of his own baby boom generation as a cause of the impending Social Security deficit, adding his personal concerns for the future. “The practical effect is that my children are going to have to use their disposable income in order to support my generation, and that’s wrong,” he said. He went on to describe “the only way” to improve Social Security, is “to give younger people the opportunity to save and own the assets which they save, which does not occur today.”
Gregg also announced his plan to introduce new legislation on Social Security reform. He said the bill has been drafted and will correspond with his past work with Kolbe, Stenholm and Senator John Breaux (D-LA). Gregg mentioned his hope that introduction of the bill might “keep the discussion going forward,” but “in a bipartisan way,” with “a need for responsible voices on both sides.”
In comments after the press conference, Senator Sununu said Social Security reform is a concern of his constituents. “I think people in New Hampshire understand the importance of Social Security modernization and the importance of health care modernization,” he said.
Evelyn Morton, senior legislative representative for AARP, agreed with those at the conference that bipartisan leadership is an important step toward successful Social Security reform, but said that “something truly representative” of what the American people need is essential.
“The stock market is on a roller-coaster ride and the economy is falling, and Social Security plays such a significant role in retirement,” she said. “AARP believes that we’ve got to have investment as an important component in retirement security, but we’ve got to have a package that also has the approval of the American people.”
Published in The Keene Sentinel, in New Hampshire.
