On The Issues

Health Care

"Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets."
– Donald Berwick, M.D.

The biggest problems in health care are a lack of affordable access and a fragmented health care delivery system. 47 million Americans are without health insurance and that number rises every day. In Missouri, over 700,000 are uninsured of which 121,000 are children. Why? It's because our health care delivery system is perfectly designed to get those results.

Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dieticians... all health care providers... hospitals, insurance companies and patients all have to contend with an uncoordinated and inefficient health care delivery system that contributes to medical errors, duplication of service, costly administrative expense and an imbalance in health care manpower that has resulted in a shortage of nurses and general care doctors.

The solution is a comprehensive health care system that prioritizes and sets goals and allocates resources where they will be most effectively utilized. It is a system that incorporates a comprehensive, quality improvement system that analyzes data and takes necessary action to improve care and reduce waste.

A standardized, electronic medical record system will reduce medical errors, improve continuity of care between providers, reduce duplication of services and save lives and billions of dollars. An efficient delivery system would provide cost savings that could be applied to actual medical care.

It's up to elected officials to take leadership and enact a functional and unified health care delivery system that focuses on preventative care, immunizations and early treatment of disease and most importantly, alleviating human pain and suffering.

Providing universal health care to all citizens, beginning with children and young adults and reversing Governor Blunt's health care cuts, will provide us with a system designed to give the best results possible.

Education

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
– William Butler Yeats

A well-rounded education gives children the skills they require for social and economic mobility and teaches them the values and lessons they need to become productive adults. Obtaining that goal depends upon nurturing and strong parental, community and state support of learning that begins in early childhood and goes all the way through higher education.

Top-notch schools are the result of respect, caring, community, parental and educator commitment plus adequate funding. Individual attention can make all the difference in the success or failure of a pupil. It is a compelling reason for small class sizes that create a mutually beneficial, productive and rewarding atmosphere for educators and students alike.

The State of Missouri ranks 38th out of 50 in funding for public education. That results in inadequate and inequitable funding for many of our 524 school districts and places a substantial property tax load on citizens in many local communities. Educational systems cannot survive much less excel if they aren't valued and maintained.

Each year nearly 20,000 Missouri students fail to graduate. The social implications are tremendous. Missouri doesn't collect and analyze truancy data, but it should. That data will help to proactively latch onto those students who are falling through the cracks early, before it's too late.

Quality education sets the foundation for life-long learning and critical thinking, attracts first-rate employers, and helps build our economic strength in a way that improves the quality of life for all of us. The benefits of a strong public school system are many and it warrants our steadfast commitment.

The Environment

"Conservation is ethically sound. It is rooted in our love of the land, our respect for the rights of others, our devotion to the rule of law."
– Lyndon Baines Johnson

Growing up, I spent much of my childhood playing, catching crawdads in the creek that ran alongside my home and exploring farm fields near and far. Perhaps that's why our natural environment matters so much to me.

Missouri is a state filled with natural beauty and I believe that we are the keepers of those gifts. I want my grandchildren and generations to come to know the serenity of our forests, the purity of Ozark streams, the wonders of plant and animal life and the freedom of open spaces. Missouri tourism depends upon that too.

Urban bicycle trails and mass transit moves people to and from jobs, shopping, school, health care and any number of daily tasks. Preservation and the expansion of our trail systems and MetroLink are vital to the success of the entire metropolitan region both economically and environmentally.

Clean air and pure water are more than ecological splendor. Our physical health depends on it. Throughout the metropolitan region, sewage overflow has polluted many creeks and watersheds and turned them into health hazards. Smog and particulate matter keep St. Louis on the most polluted cities' list. This is why the development and use of sustainable and clean renewable energy as well as transportation and infrastructure repair are high priorities for me.

I am proud to work with the people and organizations that are helping preserve our natural environment and reducing waste and consumption. Together we can make Missouri an even greater place to live and improve the quality of life for all of us.

Other Issues

The following are letters and articles, written by Jeanne or about Jeanne on issues that have come up in the past which are also important to her. Click each link to read the letter.

Confined Animal Feed Operations – St. Louis Post Dispatch, February 10, 2007
Campaign Finance Reform – St. Louis Post Dispatch, October 19, 2006
Mental Health & Homelessness – St. Louis Post Dispatch, July 27, 2005
Domestic Violence – St. Louis Post Dispatch, December 19, 2004
Elitism – St. Louis Post Dispatch, November 2004
Concealed Weapons Protest – Webster-Kirkwood Times, September 2003
Concealed Weapons – St. Louis Post Dispatch, May 7, 2003
Concealed Weapons – St. Louis Post Dispatch, March 15, 2003
Gun Trafficking – St Louis Post Dispatch, July 14, 2001