Resuscitating Healthcare Reform

Former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich is talking about it.

Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid is talking about it.

The NY Times is talking about it.




but...what is it?

"Reconciliation" is on the lips of many Washington insiders, and now even a few outsiders, as a means of passing some form of healthcare reform. It sounds sort of benign and maybe even positive and uplifting. What it amounts to though is a procedural ramrod that severely restricts debate on a budget bill and allows it to be passed with a simple majority.

After reading the above articles I was left wondering just how this rather obscure rule worked and how it might affect healthcare reform for us all.

Fortunately, Keith Hennessey, a real D.C. insider addressed Reconciliation in his blog. Check out this concise description.

Hartford's Young Emerging Leaders Meet at The CT Forum

Photos by Nick Caito

Last week we invited a group of young emerging leaders from the Greater Hartford community to come to our office and share their ideas for our upcoming 2010-2011 season. We wanted to know what the under 40 crowd thinks, worries and cares about and what this group in particular would like to see discussed - live and unscripted - at The Forum next season.


It felt enlivening to be among a group of my peers who were passionate and knowledgeable about so many topics. We discussed issues in higher education and the impact of technology on the way we communicate. We talked about how the world has changed for us - our career paths, the expectations put on us by ourselves and by society is so much different than our parents before us. There were ideas for Forums about self-image, partisanship in our political system and the distinction between rights and responsibilities in healthcare, education, personal well-being, etc.








It was, I hope, only the first part of a discussion that we will continue with this group.

If you have ideas about our upcoming season, or if you are interested in being involved in future discussions like this one, please email us at info@ctforum.org.

Forum Panelist and Urban Farmer Will Allen Appears with Michelle Obama at The White House

Will Allen, the Milwaukee urban farmer who appeared at the Revolutionary Thinkers Forum earlier this Season, shared a stage with Michelle Obama at The White House yesterday as she launched a new program to combat childhood obesity.

Allen founded Growing Power, a nonprofit program that aims to provide healthy, quality and affordable food to people in all communities. At The Forum last October he discussed how he came back to farming after growing up a farm kid outside of DC and his belief that good food should be available to everyone.