Our next Coffee and Conversation will be held this Saturday, February 4, 2012, from 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. at Park Creek Kitchen, 2124 Arlington Avenue. There will be a $3.00 charge per person for coffee, tea, muffins and fruit.

This will be an interesting meeting.  The Upper Arlington Public Library Director Ann Moore, and Board Members Bill Shikurti and Amy Sharpe, will discuss the library levy that will be on the ballot March 6th.  Additionally, Mike Schadek, member of UA City Council, will share his feelings about being on the Council and an update about what's going on with the city. Come and meet your fellow progressives in UA!

Please join fellow Upper Arlington progressives for a State of the Union watch party on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, from 8:00 - 10:00 p.m.  Obama signs and bumper stickers will be available for purchase. Light refreshments will be served. Go to BarackObama.com to RSVP and get directions to the event.

UAPA Membership Meeting to Feature Speaker on Fracking

The next UAPA membership meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 17, 2012, at 7:00 p.m. in the Little Theatre of the Upper Arlington Public Library, 2800 Tremont Road. Following a brief business meeting, a speaker from the Ohio Environmental Council will discuss the environmental and health impacts of fracking -- hydraulic fracturing for gas (and apparently earthquake) production. The politics of fracking will also be covered.

We'd like to share a great story about the importance of healthcare. It's written by CNN.com contributor LZ Granderson, and he provides some great points about the necessity of affordable healthcare for all.

Don't repeal Americans' health care lifeline

(CNN) -- I had been wrestling with eye redness for weeks. After trying nearly every brand of over-the-counter eyedrops available, I finally decided to see a doctor.

A handful of tests later, the doctor told me he had no idea why my eyes were red. But that didn't stop him from giving me a prescription. 

It was odd he would assign a treatment without a diagnosis, but what choice did I have? Visine was not getting this red out, and well, he is a doctor. So I paid the co-pay and bought the prescription. After it ran out and I still had red eyes, I went to visit another doctor. He also ran a couple of tests. He also had no idea why my eyes were red. He also gave me a prescription.

Hundreds of dollars spent, and yet I still have no answers or clearer eyes. But I do have an appointment with a third doctor and an allergist.

I'm not sharing this story to complain. I'm sharing because if you know the average American makes only $33,000 a year -- which, adjusted for inflation, has not changed since 1988 -- or if you know the price of COBRA for a family of four, then you also know why a lot of Americans don't even bother to get on this hamster wheel.

They can't afford to do it.  

Medicine is not an exact science; I get that. But what I don't get is what middle-class and working-poor people are supposed to do as they ricochet helplessly between doctors without getting answers -- like pinballs in a business model that thrives on people trying to find out what's wrong...

Read the rest of the story here.

The Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities has a replacement levy on the November 8, 2011, ballot. Money raised by the levy will help maintain the basic services for children and adults in Franklin County who have developmental disabilities.

Programs at risk if Issue 22 doesn't pass include Adult and Child Behavioral Support, Dual Diagnosis Clinics, Early Intervention and Early Childhood Education Programs. Also at risk is supported living, and job and home-based training and transportation.

Many of the 16,000 children and adults served by The Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities have either physical or mental disabilities. The extra support helps children with developmental disabilities grow into self-reliant adults and enables adults to be productive, active members of the community. The current levy will expire in 2012 and if passed Issue 22 will replace it with the same amount of millage.

Ohio's Issue 3 (more info below) is a disaster waiting to happen and current polling shows it passing on November 8th by wide margin. Unless you help get the word out.

Every major Ohio newspaper has come out against Ohio Issue 3 even traditionally conservative papers that endorsed Issue 2.

• Athens News: Issue 3 will disrupt, complicate health care in Ohio (Oct. 26)
• Cleveland Plain Dealer: No on Issue 3: editorial (Oct. 22)
• Canton Repository: Editorial: Let’s not go down this road again (Oct. 21)
• Akron Beacon Journal: No on Issue 3 (Oct. 16)
• Toledo Blade: No on Issue 3 (Oct. 16)
• Athens Messenger: Statewide ballot issues ... our endorsements (Oct. 16)
• Columbus Dispatch: Health-care amendment wouldn’t override federal law, might cause problems (Oct. 14)

Plunderbund: "For example, if Issue 3 passes, Kasich would be unable to attempt many of the reforms on Ohio’s Worker Compensation system that he’s been promising. And conservatives would likely find any new anti-abortion laws to be in violation of Ohio’s constitution under the changes implemented in Issue 3. Reporting of new contagious diseases? Banned under Issue 3. New school immunizations? BANNED!"

Read the research Innovation Ohio published about the amendment's unintended consequences.

Issue 3: Sloppy, costly and wildly off-target

This year it's easy to remember:

NO-NO-NO on Issues 1, 2 and 3.

The 411 on Issue 3

Issue 3 seeks to overturn parts of the Affordable Care Act, which expands health coverage and reduces health care costs. Experts have determined Issue 3 will cost Ohioans millions in unnecessary lawsuits and that it would likely ban, freeze or prohibit child support orders, workers compensation, COBRA payments, school immunizations, disease tracking and court-ordered rehabilitation. It puts at risk Ohio's ability to license doctors and would prohibit Ohio from regulating health insurance companies.  A “No” vote on Issue 3 will protect health care in Ohio and expand coverage to people who have been previously denied 

Our next Coffee and Conversation is scheduled for Saturday, December 3, 9:00 a.m. at Park Creek Kitchen, 2124 Arlington Avenue. Our speaker will be Tom NcNabb from Occupy Columbus. Come hear what's on the agenda for the occupy movement, including the march on Washington to overturn Citizens United.

There will be a $3.00 charge per person for coffee, tea, juice and muffins.  Come and meet your fellow progressives in UA!

An anti-gay marriage group in New Hampshire, the National Organization for Marriage, doctored up a photo from a 2008 Obama rally that appeared on UAPA's web site. Fortunately, it wasn't long before the group 'Good As You' exposed this attempt to make it look like thousands of people are attending NOM's anti-marriage events.

This story has gained national attention on the Rachel Maddow show, Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos.

Here's how original story and image looks on the UAPA web site:

And here's the doctored image on NOM's home page to make it look like they have lots of support:

And this is what a NOM rally looks like :-)

Republican presidential hopefuls Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have all spoken out in favor of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage

UAPA Book Club will meet on Monday, November 28 at the Upper Arlington Main Library, Room B. Our next selection is "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity forWomen Worldwide" by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.

Publishers Weekly says: "New York Times columnist Kristof and his wife, WuDunn, a former Times reporter, make a brilliantly argued case for investing in the health and autonomy of women worldwide. More girls have been killed in the last fifty years, precisely because they were girls, than men were killed in all the wars of the twentieth century, they write, detailing the rampant gendercide in the developing world, particularly in India and Pakistan. Far from merely making moral appeals, the authors posit that it is impossible for countries to climb out of poverty if only a fraction of women (9% in Pakistan, for example) participate in the labor force."

Author Sheryl WuDunn will speak about the topic at a free lecture sponsored by the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at the OSU Student Union on November 14 at 4:00 p.m. Registration is required by November 10. You can learn more or register online here.

Why You Should Vote No on Issue 1

The Ohio Democratic Party has claimed opposition to Issue 1, stating: "State Issue 1 extends the age limit for judges from 70 to 75 years of age. This extension would increase the length of service for individuals already entrenched on the bench. Moreover, State Issue 1 is likely to perpetuate a 6-to-1 Republican imbalance on the Ohio Supreme Court and similar imbalances on lower courts. A “No” vote on Issue 1 will promote a fairer judicial system." Learn more at Ballotpedia.

Why You Should Vote Vote No on Issue 2

For those who may need a quick refresher, we went from “Repeal Senate Bill 5” to “Vote No On Issue 2” when 1.3 million Ohioans signed petitions to repeal Senate Bill 5.  Senate Bill 5 was the name of the legislation passed by the Republican state legislature and signed into law by Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich that stripped collective bargaining rights from Ohio public sector workers.

Ohio allows state laws to be put on the ballot for repeal if enough signatures are obtained via the petition process.  And Ohioans left no doubt as to their desire to repeal the anti-labor law. Ohio's public employees have already sacrificed -- saving Ohio taxpayers more than $250 million through pay freezes and unpaid furlough days, and an additional $100 million in increased health care contributions from employee. It's not Ohio values to let firefighters, police, teachers and nurses lose their rights and see wages and benefits gutted, while insiders, politicans and people at the top sacrifice nothing.

Need more info?  View this You Tube video of former Ohio State Senator Gene Branstool, as he gives us the history of collective bargaining in Ohio. He's the original sponsor of the state's current collective bargaining law. Also check out We Are Ohio's Facebook page.

Why You Should Vote No on Issue 3

State Issue 3 is an attempt by some to take away the ability of Ohio to implement health care reforms. Opposing this measure will continue to allow Ohioans to have greater access to health care, maintain certain preventive care options like cancer screenings and it will preserve Ohioans’ freedom to choose their doctors. Voting "NO" will continue to make health care more affordable and it will ensure opportunities for the 1.4 million Ohioans who have been shut out of the insurance market because of pre-existing conditions and high insurance costs. Learn more about Issue 3 at Innovation Ohio.

You can find additional information on all the state issues at the Ohio Secretary of State website.