Strike Debt

Richmond, Calif to Try Eminent Domain to Reduce Foreclosures

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The banksters are pissed. How dare the City of Richmond, California try to use its power of eminent domain to stop housing foreclosures in its city?

Generally, governmental bodies use eminent domain to force people to sell their land and/or homes to make way for projects (like freeways) which are for the common good. Long ago, the Occupy Wall Street movement suggested that cities could use eminent domain to buy up mortgages and reduce homeowner debt– before the homeowners are forced out of their underwater mortgages by the banksters.

Remember the old Occupy chant? “Banks got bailed out. We got sold out.” The US government bailed out the Wall Street gamblers who crashed the worldwide economy, created and burst the housing bubble, caused businesses to close and lay off workers, and plunged millions of Americans into homelessness or rental units when they lost their homes. The federal government has done almost nothing to help the millions of beleaguered homowners who have lost their homes or are on the verge of it. Check out Richmond's plan after the jump.

‘Life or Debt’: Dr. Danny on the Cost of Care (video)

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Pub-opt113-sm-72by Pamela Powers Hannley

More people in the US go bankrupt because of medical bills than for any other reason.

Even in Massachusetts— where they have Romneycare (the model for Obamacare)– people with health insurance are going bankrupt at alarming rates, due to unpaid medical bills.

Now, primarily because of uncompensated care, many US hospitals are going bankrupt.

Despite the evidence that our greed-based, healthcare non-system is inadequate, Teapublicans want to scale it back— instead of expanding it. The Paul Ryan Budget would eliminate the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare), change Medicare to a voucher program, and cut Medicaid by more than 40%. The Koch Brothers are holding closed-door "educational" meetings with the Tea Party faithful, in an attempt to squash the Medicaid expansion, through the Affordable Care Act, in red states like Arizona. All of this is unfathomable. These efforts will save money for the corporatists but will encourage the sick and uninsured to forgo care or go to emergency rooms– thus leading to more personal and hospital bankruptcies and premature death due to delayed care or no care. WTF?

After the jump, watch Dr. Danny, a New York emergency room physician, explain the cost of care and what should be done about it. Thanks to Strike Debt for posting this video on Facebook.