WEDNESDAY OCT 14, 2009 – 5PM PT

BENEATH THE SURFACE WITH ROSEANNE BARR
PRODUCED BY CHRISTINE BLOSDALE

 
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MILITARY RAPE AWARENESS WEEK (OCT 12-16)

Due to the incredible epidemic of rape in the military in which 1 in 3 women have been raped or sexually assaulted, Veterans for Peace has designated October 12-16 as “Military Rape Awareness Week” with actions taking place at Armed Forces Recruiting stations around the country to demand that military recruiters alert women who are thinking about joining the military about the high possibility they will be raped while in the controlled, highly disciplined military environment. 

In fact, there was a press conference that was held yesterday in front of the Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Times Square in New York City. Organizations that took place in the press conference included; members of Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans against the War, The Granny Peace Brigade, Codepink: Women for Peace, World Can’t Wait, Artists Response Team and We Will Not Be Silent.

Also speaking at yesterday’s event was Retired Army Colonel Ann Wright, who is a 29 year veteran of the US Army and US Army Reserves. Ann is also a retired official of the U.S. State Department, known for her outspoken opposition to the Iraq War. She is most noted for having been one of three State Department officials to publicly resign in direct protest of George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003.

FOR MORE INFO ON MILITARY RAPE AWARENESS WEEK VISIT http://www.veteransforpeace.org/Military_rape_awareness_week_2009.vp.html

BACKGROUND INFO:
Ann Wright said, “It is a responsibility of us as veterans to warn young women that according to Veterans Administration studies, one in three women are sexually assaulted or raped while they are in the military.”

Sexual assault and rape of women and men in the US military increased so dramatically during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that in 2005 then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld formed a task force on sexual assault—however, the task force did not meet until 2008.

Nearly one-third of a nationwide sample of women veterans who sought health care through the Veterans Administration said they experience rape or attempted rape during their service.  Of that group, 37 percent said they were raped multiple times and 14 percent reported they were gang-raped.  Department of Defense has been reluctant to release statistics on sexual assault of men in the military, but anecdotal evidence indicates that the statistics are alarmingly high.

Over the past 10 years, more than 700 US Army Recruiters have been accused of sexual misconduct or rape. 60 years of US military studies and task forces since women began entering the military in larger numbers have not lessened the incidents of assault and rape.

We call on the Department of Defense and the US Military Recruiting Commands and the Military Entrance Processing Stations to formally notify women and men of the statistics on the incidence of the criminal acts of sexual assault and rape of women and men in the military committed by fellow members of the military, many in their chains of command.                  

THE HEALTHCARE DEBATE CONTINUES

The Senate Finance Committee advanced the $829 billion Baucus health care bill yesterday that would affect health insurance for millions of Americans. The proposal would expand insurance coverage to 29 million people who wouldn't otherwise have it by requiring nearly everyone to buy a policy and offering subsidies to help low- and moderate-income families afford premiums.

The bill captured support from only one Republican on the committee, Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine. And today another Republican came around - Maine Sen. Susan Collins said the status quo is unaccaptable and she shares the goal of passing responsible health care legislation to expand coverage and curb costs.

But does this bill address the true needs of the American people – and at what cost?
And what ever happened to Single Payer?

According to the organization Physicians for a National Health Program, the U.S. spends twice as much as other industrialized nations on health care, $7,129 per capita. Yet our system performs poorly in comparison and still leaves 45.7 million without health coverage and millions more inadequately covered.

Physicians for a National Health Program believe this is because private insurance bureaucracy and paperwork consume one-third (31 percent) of every health care dollar – and they believe that streamlining payment through a single nonprofit payer would save more than $400 billion per year, enough to provide comprehensive, high-quality coverage for all Americans.

GUESTS:

DR. DON McCANNE - Senior health policy fellow with Physicians for a National Health Program. He also writes a daily health policy update at: http://www.pnhp.org

and

DR. BARBARA BLAYLOCK a retired primary care internist now living in Rockville, Maryland. On the current status of healthcare, Dr. Blaylock has said "I'm mad as hell because health care in America has become a web of business entities. It's focused on [making] a profit instead of doing what's right for all of us. There are no quick fixes, but a single-payer model would reduce administrative waste, free patients to choose their own doctors and facilitate job mobility."