Summary: Some rights transcend political parties! This week on Talking Left, we talked about health care, voting rights, and basic human protections. These are issues that we should support, regardless of where we fall on the political spectrum. In hour one, we gave you our take on this week's conflicting Obamacare rulings, and on Paul Ryan's so-called "Opportunity Plan." Although many "left-wing" media outlets have dismissed the DC Circuit's ruling, and claimed that the health care law is safe, there is reason to be concerned, and there is a simple way to fix the issue. We can cry "Judicial Activism," but the real problem is the right-wingers in Congress who refuse to fix a drafting error in the law. Hopefully, the full DC Circuit agrees that the subsidies were intended in the federal exchanges, and prevents this lawsuit from making its way to the Right-wing members of the Supreme Court. Although Paul Ryan calls his "Opportunity Plan" a new way to help the poor, it really consists of a bunch of old Republican ideas wrapped up in a new package. However, rather than dismissing his plan as the political maneuver that it is, we should take a page out of the GOP's playbook, and call on Congress to pass the parts of his plan that we agree on. Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit and reforming mandatory minimum prison sentences are actually good ideas - so, let's get those done and send Republicans back to the drawing board with the rest of their block grant clap trap. In the second hour, we kicked off our summer series on Constitutional amendments. Although most Progressives would start off with getting money out of politics, we thought that we'd start with something even more fundamental - the right to vote. According to many experts, including Congressman Marc Pocan, there is no explicit right to vote in the Constitution. There is an implied right, as our democracy is based on self-governance, but we think it needs to be even stronger. There is nothing more important than participating in our political system, and we need a higher bar to prevent right-wing state lawmakers from trying to take away our right to do so. As we discussed voting rights, we wanted to speak with someone who lives and breaths this issue. We were joined by Elisabeth MacNamara, the President and Chair of The League of Women Voters of the U.S. The LWV fights to protect our right to vote in states all around our nation, and they help voters understand the issues in both national and state elections. President MacNamara had a different take on the constitutional right to vote, and she is - after all - the real expert. Regardless of whether you think we should pass an amendment, renew the Voting Rights Act, or simply vote out lawmakers who want to disenfranchise voters, the League of Women Voters is an excellent resource to get involved. You can check out their site Vote411.org for information about upcoming elections, and you can join their fight at LWV.org. In hour three, we continued our discussion of rights that need to be protected - and this time talked about how prisoners in our nation are being denied those rights. After the second botched execution in recent months, it's clear that states are experimenting on prisoners - and that's a violation of the Geneva Convention. Groups like the ACLU are working on a Prisoner's Bill of Rights, but perhaps we need to take it a step further, and first enact law to affirm that these are human beings. Perhaps it's time for a Prisoner's Magna Carta! Also in hour three, we circled back to the health care discussion, and spoke with Mayor Adam O'Neal of Bellhaven, North Carolina. Mayor O'Neal walked from his state all the way to D.C. to bring attention to the closure of a rural hospital is his town. Consolidation and the state legislature's refusal to expand Medicaid brought about that closure, and left residents dangerously far from the closest emergency room. You can help his cause at SaveOurHospital.or
