Currently, Medicare payments for physical therapy are capped. The therapy caps limit outpatient rehabilitation coverage to $1,810 for combined physical therapy and speech-language pathology services and $1,810 for occupational therapy (2008 limits).

Click here to sign a letter to Senator Casey asking him to support S.450 - Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2007, which will repeal the outpatient therapy cap.

Given how this affects stroke survivors, accident survivors, and those with degenerative diseases, Congress has recognized the harm inherent in this policy and repeatedly put moratoriums on enforcement. The current moratorium runs through June 30, 2008.

Given that no medical miracle is about to change the need for PT/SLP/OT services, it's a waste of time to keep passing short-term fixes. It's a cause of great anxiety to those who need the services. And it's an offensive legal fiction that these costs do not exist, and don't need to be fully accounted for in the budget.

Statement on judicial nominations by People For the American Way president Kathryn Kolbert:

“In the waning days of President Bush’s unpopular presidency, Senator Arlen Specter and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are throwing temper tantrums over judges. They’ve even repeatedly threatened to shut down the Senate — which would hold up crucial legislation as the economy teeters on the edge of recession — if they don’t get their way.”

“Senators McConnell and Specter conveniently forget that over 300 of President Bush’s judicial nominees have been confirmed — a greater percentage than were confirmed for President Clinton. More importantly, the longstanding and bipartisan Senate practice known as the ‘Thurmond Rule’ dictates that only non-controversial judicial nominees should be processed in the months preceding a presidential election.

“Senator Pat Leahy, who has gone far above and beyond what is required as committee chairman, announced that three additional federal circuit court nominees would be confirmed in short order. But that didn’t suit McConnell and Specter. They’re simply not interested in mainstream nominees that can win bipartisan backing — not when there are political points to be scored. Instead they’re playing to the base by pushing three highly controversial nominees.

“Senator Specter apparently learned a lesson four years ago when he nearly lost a primary to Patrick Toomey, the handpicked candidate of the Religious Right and Club for Growth. Ever since, Specter has been a pit bull for right-wing judges. That’s bad for Pennsylvania and bad for America.

“Senators Specter and McConnell will continue their pressure tactics around judges, but Senate Democrats must stand strong. The clock is ticking for President Bush, but it’s already run out for his controversial nominees.”

People For the American Way has background information on the three controversial nominees being pushed by Specter and McConnell: Peter Keisler for the DC Circuit and Robert Conrad Jr. and Steve Matthews for the Fourth Circuit.

truthout's Matt Renner speaks with DFA Chairman Jim Dean about the Democratic primary election, the strategies of past Democratic campaigns and the rise of a new locally based progressive movement.

This video was orginally posted on this site in July of 2006. I light of the recent developments on the economic front, (credit collapse, sluggish employment growth, etc.), I thought it was appropriate to move it back to the front page. So, here you go:

The struggle for the soul of the Democratic party is nothing new. It's been contested for over forty years. Eric Rauchway in The New Republic debunks a notion recently put forward by Tom Brokaw on a History Channel program that the FDR coalition and by extension, the Democratic Party, was broken by supporters of left-wing causes and hippes protesting the Vietnam war. He explains that the real split in the Democratic Party was over race.

Thanks to everyone who journeyed to State College on Saturday, especially Jim Dean and Ilya Sheyman who traveled from Connecticut to address the assembled group and lead the meeting. The feedback has been good and we anticipate future meetings and regular conference calls going forward.

Over 30 DFA'ers from around the state were in attendance. The following local groups were represented:

• Democracy for Pittsburgh
• Montgomery County DFA
• Philly for Change
• Lower Bucks for Democracy
• Upper Bucks for Democracy
• Northeast Philadelphia for Democracy
• Capital Area DFA
• Democracy for Lancaster
• Gettysburg Area DFA
• LEAD (Lebanon)
• Western PA DFA

In this month's Vanity Fair:

The Economic Consequences of Mr. Bush
by Joseph E. Stiglitz December 2007

The next president will have to deal with yet another crippling legacy of George W. Bush: the economy. A Nobel laureate, Joseph E. Stiglitz, sees a generation-long struggle to recoup.

The American economy can take a lot of abuse, but no economy is invincible. - - Joseph Stiglitz

Joseph Eugene "Joe" Stiglitz (born February 9, 1943) is an American economist and a member of the Columbia University faculty. He is a recipient of the John Bates Clark Medal (1979) and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics (2001). Former Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank, he is famous for his critical view of globalization, free market fundamentalists and some international institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In 2000 Stiglitz founded the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD), a think tank on international development based at Columbia University. Since 2001 he has been a member of the Columbia faculty, and has held the rank of University Professor since 2003. He also chairs the University of Manchester's Brooks World Poverty Institute and is a member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. - Wikipedia