National Nurses United

RAD_June 2011 11/29/11 10:13 PM Page 9 RoseAnn DeMoro Executive Director, National Nurses United Nurses to the Rescue RNs have a care plan to heal America, tax Wall Street "Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have." —Margaret Mead "The nurses (NNU) aren't just making noise. It looks like they're changing the debate, altering the policies of the most powerful players in Washington—and perhaps the world." —John Nichols, The Nation, Nov. 3, 2011 A s nnu membersmarched andralliedNov.3attheG-20 summitofworldleadersin France,outsidetheWhite HouseandTreasuryDepartmentinWashington,andin financialdistrictsinLosAngelesandSanFrancisco,ourcampaignto"HealAmerica,taxWallStreet" hasclearlyresonatedacrossthenationandglobe. Scores of other labor, environmental, consumer, and community groups, and participants from the Occupy Wall Street movement have joined us arm in arm in the United States, as have nurses and global trade union and nongovernmental organizations internationally. And on the day we were pressing the Obama administration to join the global movement, the administration sent signals it was dropping its opposition to a financial transaction tax in Europe, at least. NNU's campaign to challenge Wall Street and the financial giants that have such a powerful grip on our nation's and the global economy, has also increasingly drawn the notice of the world's press, and those who wonder why RNs would embrace such an undertaking. Here are five reasons why. Nurses see the effects of the economic crisis every day. Early this year, nurses began reporting a huge uptick in specific health conditions they were seeing at the bedside and in medical offices that were directly related to the prolonged economic crisis. These include stress-induced heart ailments in younger patients, adult diseases surfacing in children due to high-fat diets linked to low incomes, anxiety disorders and higher asthma rates, and even deaths tied to poverty or insurance obstacles.  For years, nurses have seen patients delaying or skipping preventive medical care or O C TO B E R 2 01 1 medication because of costs. But it's getting worse, with nurses now reporting patients who have lost their jobs or homes even foregoing life-saving treatment. A Commonwealth Fund study issued in early November reinforces the point. It compared the United States to 10 other highincome nations. It found that we stand out for having cost and access problems with 27 percent of patients unable to pay medical bills or encountering serious problems compared to from 1 to 14 percent in all the other countries. Further, 42 percent of U.S. patients reported not visiting a doctor, filling a prescription or avoided getting recommended care, more than twice the rate of most of the other nations. tion for a Main Street contract. It is premised on a program first proposed by President Franklin Roosevelt as a Second Bill of Rights, and on the notion that everyone in our nation should have a social contract, as union members do, to fulfill the initial promise in the Declaration of Independence of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The main themes of the contract are guaranteed healthcare for all, as in expanding Medicare to cover everyone, good jobs with dignity, fully funded quality public education for our children, a safe and healthy environment, freedom from hunger and homelessness, and other basic needs. Our Main Street program has since won numerous endorsements from labor and community organizations. Nurses are experiencing the consequences of the economic meltdown in their own families. Revenue to pay for a Main Street recovery from those who broke the economy. Who RNs across the country have sent us numerous reports of a dramatic change in their own lives, many becoming the sole lifeline for their immediate and extended families. Their spouses have lost jobs, adult children unable to find work or health coverage are moving back home, parents faced with daunting medical bills need economic help, and other relatives need support. A survey we conducted this summer of nurses in just one big health system, Sutter Health corporation, confirmed the anecdotal reports. Today 50 percent of Sutter RNs support their children or grandchildren, 51 percent of Sutter RNs support brothers, sisters, or other extended family members, and 19 percent of Sutter RNs support parents. solutions that would address the crisis ripping through our communities, far too many politicians in Washington and in state capitals were promoting programs that would deepen the suffering. The focus was on slashing deficits, cutting pensions and health benefits for public workers, including nurses, national proposals to cut Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid, and deep reductions in other programs that help people in need. should pay to reframe our economy? The big banks, investment firms, and other financial institutions which ruined it with trillion dollar trades on people's homes and pensions, and similar reckless gambling. Specifically, we called for a financial transaction tax (FTT) because, a) There is a broad, global movement for an FTT, b) It is not a new concept in the U.S., we had an FTT from 1914 to 1966, c) Americans pay sales tax on virtually all other transactions, the big banks who created the present crisis should pay to help repair the damage, d) The FTT specifically targets the biggest financial operators, not ordinary consumer activity, and, e) That's where the money is that is needed to protect our families and communities. A simple tax of just 50 cents on every $100 of trades of stocks, bonds, derivatives, and other financial transactions could raise up to $350 billion every year. What could we do with that revenue? Fund about 9 million jobs, reducing the official unemployment number by 60 percent, save 1.7 million homes from foreclosure, and lift all 3.8 million female-headed households who are below the poverty line out of poverty for up to 10 years. It would be a good start. Next month: Questions and answers about the FTT Our program, a Main Street Contract for the American People. With the inaction from our RoseAnn DeMoro is executive director of National elected leaders, NNU adopted a recommenda- Nurses United. Our communities and families need immediate help, not more cuts. Rather than provide W W W. N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N AT I O N A L N U R S E 9

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