Relief now available for flood victims from FEMA

President Barack Obama quickly approved Disaster Area status for Cook and DuPage counties in response to the series of floods caused by heavy rains and the failure of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago to better respond to flood concerns.

Obama's federal designation now opens the door to disaster relief support that could come in the form of grants and low interest loans. This first step is the result of the tremendous work of the Cook County Department of Homeland Security office and its leadership, David Ramos and Kevin Joyce who reached out quickly to residents on July 24 the morning of the flood to let them know that something could be done. In the Town of Cicero, (where I work now as spokesman), Town President Larry Dominick declared Cicero a Disaster Area.

In fact, on order to get Obama to declare it a disaster area and make FEMA funds available, towns and villages had to do so first. That was immediately followed up by Cook County Board President Todd Stroger and then by Gov. Pat Quinn also declaring the region a disaster area. Without those declarations, Obama could not act.

A second essential step was to collect data to support a Federal Disaster Area designation. Cicero, under the leadership of Emo Cundari the Town Assessor, set up a data collection process that begin within hours of the flooding and county support. On Sunday and Monday immediately after the flooding that prior day, more than 75 volunteers were at Town Hall at tables filling out the preliminary damage estimate forms provided by Ramos and Joyce.

Over the two days, the Town of Cicero collected data from more than 5,000 people and homes that suffered damage.

The extent of the damage is noteworthy, too. Although Water Reclamation District President Terry O'Brien was not seen in most of the suburban communities, he did appear on television recently to declare that the lfooding problem was not his problem but blamed it instead on the suburban communities themselves. He asserted in an interview with Channel 7 WLS TV that the sewer systems in the suburban communities are old and aged and can't get the water to the Reclamation District.

Of course, that is ridiculous. The fact is most witnesses will tell you that during the unprecedented rains, the water had no place to go and backed up into streets and homes. And suddenly, after the Reclamation District finally opened the Locks, the water was sucked down the sewer systems like you unplugged a bathtub.

The water dispersal was dramatic in each and every town.

No one town or village is responsible because the flooding was across the region. Water does not sit in a bowl and communities are not bowls. They are linked together by landmass and sewers that connected to the Reclamation District.

IF YOU HAD FLOOD DAMAGE you can and should now immediately act:

If your home had property damage as a result of the recent flooding on July 24, you can begin the process to apply for FEMA relief every day from 7 am until 10 pm starting on Friday August 20. To do so, you can go online to the FEMA web site and complete the necessary application forms 24 hours a day. That web site is  www.DisasterAssistance.gov. That’s www.DisasterAssistance.gov. You can also begin the process by calling FEMA at 1-800-621-3362. The toll free numbers will operate from 7 am until 10 pm, seven days a week until further notice.

Department of Homeland Security officials credited the Town of Cicero and Town President Larry Dominick for their fast action in beginning the process to assess damage estimates. That data became the basis of President Obama’s declaration.

-- Ray Hanania

www.RadioChicagoland.com

Obama presents healthcare plan to unite Democrats and slap down Republican demagoguery

It was not surprising to see the Republican side of the joint session of Congress sit in their chairs like scolded school children wearing universally constipated expressions of disdain as President Barack Obama presented a powerful and effective consensus healthcare plan to unite the Democrats.


It was also not surprising to hear a member of the Republican side scream out "lie" during a presidential address, one of the most shameful acts ever witnessed, when Obama slapped down one GOP lie after another that he correctly stated were driven by politics rather than care for the American people.

Obama's healthcare concensus plan is plain and simple. And while the Republicans will not loosen their grips on their "bogus claims," as Obama put it, Obama outlined a vision that can help put to rest the most egregious lies even if Republicans, like GOP spokesman US Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA), refuse to let up on the "scary stories."

Obama spelled out in English what Republicans will certainly seek to distort in their familiar language of demagoguery. In the first part, Obama said:

1 - There will be NO CHANGE in job related insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or VA provided health coverage. NO CHANGE "in what you have."
2 - Will prevent the insurance robber barons from continuing to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, (the one proposal that drew Republican support). Obama promised that would be in the bill he signs.
3 - No arbitrary caps on coverage costs for patient care. (That has to hurt the insurance industry right where its cold blooded pulse beats!)
4 -  Insurance companies will be required to provide basic coverage for routine examines like breast cancer screenings to prevent breast cancer.

In the second part, Obama said that over the next four years:

1 - an insurance exchange will be created where coops of insurance coverage will be made available to those who lose health insurance when they leave or lose their jobs, or change jobs or are self-insured. It's a brilliant idea as Piers Morgan of America's Got Talent might say.
2 - For those who can't afford even that coverage, tax credits will be made available to help them cover the costs. Government will offer low-cost coverage to the poor, an idea Obama credited to his former presidential rival Sen. John McCain.
3 - Everyone will be required to carry basic health insurance, just as everyone is required to carry auto insurance, a proposal that saves billions in money spent to cover those who think they won't have health problems and then do.

Obama spoke to the "demagoguery" and the "bogus claims" forcefully, adding even more to the constipated Republican expressions int he audience. Obama drove a stake into the vampire heart of the Republican narrative when he stressed:

1 - There will not be any "death panels" as advocated by the disgraced former candidate for vice president Sarah Palin, to kill off senior citizens. "It's a lie plain and simple!"
2 - The Obama healthcare plan WILL NOT cover or apply to anyone who is in this country illegally.
3 - No Federal dollars will fund abortion.
4 - There will be no government takeover of private healthcare, promising that the public will have a "choice." No one will be forced to leave their existing coverage to take the modified public option that Republicans have used as the foundation for their demagoguery against health care reform and the defense of the insurance industry lobby. He called on the stoic Republican audience to stop making their "wild claims about government takeover."

In ending his speech, the 15th Presidential address to a joint session of congresss since 1952 (according to retiring ABC Anchor Chalres Gibson), not one dollar of the "sacred trust" called Medicare will be used to fund the healthcare reforms.

"Don't pay attention to those scary stories that your medicare will be cut ... I will protect medicare."
Obama made some final points addressing the scare tactics that his plan is "socialism" or that this is a "government takeover of healthcare, after paying a powerful tribute to the late Sen Ted Kennedy, paraphrasing Kennedy's powerful repeated public tragedy that many families face: "There is something that will make you better, but I can't afford it."

The President reminded the Republicans -- and it was clear the first part of his speech outlining the consensus health care plan to unite the Democrats and the second part was to slam down the GOP demagoguery -- that Social Security was also denounced as "Socialism" when it was first proposed in the 1930s, and Medicare was also denounced as a government takeover when it was proposed in the 1960s.

The President's speech was so powerful it probably sent many of the nation's health insurance industry robber barons into economic cardiac arrest.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Recent Radio Show interviews

This week podcast at www.RadioChicagoland.com are interviews with US Senator Dick Durbin on the economy, President Barack Obama's 100th Day in office and the fight to curb unethical practices by the nation's banking industry and credit card abuses. Durbin comes down hard on the credit card companies and says something will be done.

Ald Toni Preckwinkle, the reform alderman from Chicago's 4th Ward, discusses her candidacy to challenge beleauguered and controversy-plagued Cook County Board President Todd Stroger int he Democratic primary election in 2010.

And, Attorney Joel Brodsky of Brodsky & Odeh (www.BrodskyOdeh.com) discusses the contrversy surrounding his client Drew Peterson and the civil suit filed by the father and sister of his 3rd wife Kathleen Savio, whose death was recently ruled a homicide, and the disappearance of his 4th wife, Stacy Peterson. Brodsky discusses how Peterson handled being hated by the public.

On Radio Chicagoland www.RadioChicagoland.com

-- Ray Hanania

Inspiring speech from President Obama, with some interesting moments

The differences between President Barack Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush are startling. Although Obama's speech Tuesday night seemed more about inspiration than actual substance, I listened with a growing confidence that maybe this country can get things done.

Some reaction:

The Republican members of Congress who along with Bush helped dig this country into an economic grave, sat on their hands far too much as Obama fought to inspire this country to greater achievement and to overcome our hardships.

I couldn't help but remember that today's economic troubles stem from Bush's failures as a leader, the manumental mistake of invading Iraq and the endless costs associated with fighting that worthless war. So many Americans have doed there it is tragic, only to have turned that country into a training ground for al-Qaeda, which was never there before we arrived with our invading forces on in March 2003.

I smiled and nodded when Obama hammered the robber barrons of the banking industry and Wall Street, the economic mobsters who are bleeding this country to its death. And did a virtual fist-bumped with the president as be vowed to crack down on their excesses. Let's hope he can follow through.

I was annoyed though to watch as members of congress crowded around Obama to get his autographs on their invitations. It seemed so cheesy considering that their privilege protects them from the pain of the down spiralling economy.

I laughed when NBC anchor Brian Williams stumbled through the beginning of his interview with former Congressman Rahm Emanuel who is now Obama's chief of staff. Emanuel served as a "volunteer" in the Israeli army for three works working at an Israeli military base. Emanuel has refused to answer questions about whether he did or did not wear an Israeli military uniform. Not wearing one on the base would have been unusual, but embarassing today especially since becoming a congressman and later Obama's chief of staff. The issue of loyalty is important in this country.

But Emanuel's influence was clear in Obama's speech when he failed to mention the Palestinians or Palestine in his reference to bringing peace and security to Israel and better relations with "her neighbors." Subtle but significant shift in American foreign policy tenor.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com