The NATO summit in Chicago

[cassiesmom]

This weekend is the NATO summit in Chicago. I'm putting this in the Dog House because there are lots of different ideas about the topics to be addressed at the meetings. How to get the world's troops safely and quickly out of Afghanistan and leave the country stable in its own hands, no easy answers there.

Anyway, there's a big rally today organized by a nurses' organization from California (National Nurses United). They've gone up against the INA to try and organize nurses in the city and state facilities without a whole lot of success. But their rallying point isn't about nursing or even health care in general-- it's the "Robin Hood" tax.

From their Web site:
The centerpiece of the rally is a call for a Robin Hood tax, a small levy of 50 cents or less on $100 of trades of stocks, bonds, derivatives and other financial instruments that could raise up to $350 billion every year in revenue.

The revenue from the Robin Hood Tax is the first step to healing distressed communities and setting the U.S. on the road to a real recovery. More than 40 countries, including many of the fastest growing economies, already have such a tax, and it may well be adopted European-wide this year.

It makes me mad. There are so many issues that nurses could be rallying around. Ensuring access to care, helping uninsured and underinsured people, patient safety, the high cost of medications, decreasing injuries related to gun violence, the importance of health screenings and vaccines... But no, it has to be the Robin Hood tax. I don't even know the government's official position on such a tax and I don't think it would fly, especially around here with the number of Fortune 500 companies in the Chicago area.

[Karen]

How odd that nurses would choose that to protest about - if you are a union member, can you write them and let them know?

[Catty1]

Perhaps part of the thinking is that the money, or a good part of it, could go to health care and good nutrition for those not having access to it?

[cassiesmom]

How odd that nurses would choose that to protest about - if you are a union member, can you write them and let them know?

I'm not. National Nurses United is affiliated with the California Nurses Association, so what they do strikes me as a little more outspoken than things usually are around here. When I was temping, I worked in an organization that was represented by the Illinois Nurses Association, although as a temp I wasn't included in their representation. It seemed to me as an outsider that the union added another (sometimes unnecessary) layer between the nurses and the management team because issues with assignments, staffing, schedules and overtime had to go to the union steward before they could go to management. But I can still write and let them know. They come from out west, stage a rally and leave town -- and we are left to explain it to our patients next week! Grrrr!

[cassiesmom]

There were big restrictions announced last week as to what items would not be allowed on commuter trains during the summit. Things like backpacks, food and drinks, boxes, bicycles, and other items that are generally no problem. I moved only the essentials into a smaller bag, so I wouldn't have trouble getting on the train. But the rules were very loosely enforced. I did see people with bottles of water and I heard that on other lines there were people with cups of coffee and backpacks. What's the point of announcing the rules if they aren't going to be enforced? I have even more respect now for cities that have hosted the Olympics, where the road closures, security requirements and traffic changes last for 2-3 weeks. We're used to some of that when the Obama family comes home, but this is on a much larger scale.

I saw a Homeland Security Police officer this morning with his canine co-worker, a GSD. I asked if I might pet the GSD, but no petting permitted. The officer was very nice about it, he said that every dog person who had come by wanted to pet his dog and if he allowed it, they wouldn't get any work done! But the dog would like to receive all that petting and attention. I asked him to please pet his dog "extra" for me when they went off duty and he said he certainly would, both for me and for a lot of others!