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Thank Your Representatives for Passing Health Care Reform |
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Last night, 220 members of Congress showed they’re on the side of working families, not big insurance companies. They’ve earned our thanks for keeping their promises and passing landmark health care reform.
Our friends at Health Care for America Now (HCAN) have set up an easy tool where you can contact your member of Congress and thank him or her for voting “Yes” on H.R. 3962. We demanded this change with our votes and our voices, and House members stepped up to make it a reality.
H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, is the right way to cover more people and make the nation’s health care system work better for everyone. It includes a public health insurance option, provides assistance for middle-class families to get health care coverage and sets tough new rules for insurers, making sure no one can be denied care or be rejected from coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
Health care reform will be paid for by a combination of employer responsibility, cost savings and a surtax on the extremely wealthy. It does not tax middle-class workers’ benefits.
It took real courage to stand up to the disinformation and big bankrolls of the insurance companies, and [x] members of the House showed that courage, voting to help millions of people get the affordable health coverage they deserve. They need to hear from you, so let them know they did the right thing.
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The AFL-CIO “leadership”, directly opposing the unanimous resolution of it’s membership in the September AFL-CIO convention, has again supported corporate profit interests against the mandate of it’s own members and against the needs of the working people of this country. As this bill excludes affordable health care access to MILLIONS of non-citizen working people, this “health care reform” will massively profit big business and will result in the death of thousands of untreated working people.
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http://www.commondreams.org/further/2009/11/07
11.07.09 - 3:39 PM
Single Payer Advocates Starting to Break Against Obama
by Russell Mokhiber
Single payer activists are starting to break against President Obama on health care reform.
On Thursday, Physicians for a National Health Program, in an e-mail message to its members, endorsed the view that “no bill is better than a bad bill.”
“Even the public option in the House is a sham,” the group said on Thursday.
PNHP’s John Geyman called on the House to shelve Obamacare.
“The negatives far outweigh the positives,” Geyman wrote.
Yesterday, Congressman Eric Massa (D-NY), a lead single payer advocate in the House, said he would vote against Obamacare.
And it wouldn’t matter what kind of pressure the White House or President Obama put on him to change his mind.
“I have respect for the chief executive, but I don’t work for him,” Massa said. “I work for people of the 29th Congressional District.”
“At the highest level this bill will enshrine in law the monopolistic powers of the private health insurance industry,” Massa said yesterday in a telephone press conference. “There’s no other way to look at it.”
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported that Massa spent the last week studying 1,990-page H.R. 3962.
Massa said that the bill “fails to address the fundamental question before the American people, and that is, how do you control the costs of health care?”
Massa is the only solid no vote who turned on Obama because it gave too much to the insurance industry.
There are two other single payer advocates - Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) - who are undecided and may join Massa in the “no” camp when the House votes comes down - possibly as early as tonight.
In late July 2009, virtually the entire Congressional Progressive Caucus wrote a letter saying that anything less than a public option tied to Medicare rates was “unacceptable.”
But most have reneged on that position - including such progressives as Donna Edwards (D-Maryland) and Raul Grajalva (D-Arizona) - under pressure from Obama and the White House.
if i read your comment correctly you would have illegal aliens covered under this bill? you have completely lost your mind. over 80% of americans and legal immigrants do not want illegal aliens covered. over 60% of americans and legal immigrants do not want illegal aliens to even receive any health care at all in this country. if we got rid of every illegal alien tomorrow we could cut the unemployment rate in half. over 16 million americans and legal immigrants out of work while over 8 million illegal aliens hold jobs in this country. the only bowing to corporate greed would be to allow illegal aliens coverage. this would give them a greater incentive to come here without permission. rather you realize it or not we are fighting for the survival of our nation, and our way of life. it really amazes me how blind and stupid people really are.
WOW, you are in la-la land. Thanks to NAFTA and every other global trade agreement passed, we will see people coming up from the South looking for jobs. Many are here because we decimated their corn crop by undercutting the price of what WE decided to grow.
Tell me first the details of what the House passed as far as the Public Option….
1. What will be the premium, co-pay costs for a family of four of different incomes? And what about the cost of prescriptions?
2. will they be able to go to any doctor, any hospital?
3. will it include dental, vision, mental health care?
4. will there be a trigger (not go into effect until 2013)?
5. How many Americans can opt for the Public Option?
6. Are there any controls built in so insurance companies can’t raise rates on others with employment-based health care, to make up for having to comply with no pre-existing conditions exclusions?
Sea star RN
Yeah, Thank you for the knives in our back and bringing us one step closer to the government control and loss of freedom.
Will the AFL CIO now send me my “Bought for and Paid For by Pelosi and Obama” T-shirt?
No. You will have to pay for it.
To the leadership of the AFL-CIO I say thank my congressman for what? Congressman Charles Gonzalez at a Town Hall meeting on healthcare last August asked; “What’s wrong with the HMOs making an honest profit?” Obviously this guy hasn’t a clue as to the true nature of the healthcare monopoly insurance industry or he’s in their pockets. ( He has received over $158,000 from the corporate healthcare monster)
The only viable healthcare legislation offered was the Medicare For All bill called H.R. 676. Due to legal bribery this bill was never even given a moment’s consideration! Why? Because it would have put the HMO parasites out of business!
So it will be business as usual. More people denied healthcare, more people denied needed treatment. This is reform???
Kudos to Massa & Kucinich for voting NO! How weird that the AFL-CIO got on the wagon for pushing a vote on Rep. Weiner’s amendment the same day he withdraws it. As for pmrnc: what freedoms are you losing? Time to get behind Sen. Sanders’ SB703, the only lifeline left for a single payer plan.
If anyone expected a “perfect’ bill they are crazy. This bill is the beginning of a change to our helath care system. By passing this bill many members of Congress, including sosme Republican will find it easier in the future to vote to make more adjustments and changes to the bill to make even better. So, please let us not start complaining of what it does not have at the moment and let us push and press for the additional changes needed. We progressives tend to loose on issues because we always want things to be perfect or to meet the desires of every different group. Keep the faith and keep up the fight.
As Brother Wells states the AFL-CIO went against it’s membership and bowed down to it’s real masters the hacks that run the Democratic Party and Commander and Chief Obama. We need a nationalized health care, UNDER WORKERS CONTROL, and without any compensation to the blood sucking insurance companies, pharmacy houses, hospital operators and stock holders. Health care is a human right just like housing and jobs and this rotten ass system can’t provide that but it can provide trillions for banks, health “care” industry, military contractors and other thieves and murderers.
Until labor gets off it’s knees and builds a fighting workers party to take on capitalism capital will continue to laugh at us and explot us.
I’m calling my rep to tell her she should have voted NO like Dennis Kucinich! I’m calling my Senators -both worthless Democrats - to tell them to oppose this rip-off.
Funny how the great progressive champion Pelosi allowed an amendment restricting funding for abortions while killing any chance of real reform by denying a vote on Single Payer.
and contrary to “pmrnc” this bill isn’t government run health care; in fact it gives more control to the corporate insurance profiteers and forces us to buy private insurance. it’s the second biggest transfer of wealth to the corporations who rule our government, after the bipartisan rip-off of the bank bail out!
the afl-cio has sold there members & there retirees out
Oh no! Is this the kind of crap that will be coming out of the offices of the new leadership? Thank ‘em? NOT!
Physicians for a National Health Program said HR 3962 “is like aspirin for breast cancer”. Who do we believe? Doctors who are fighting for quality, affordable, accessible, comprehensive health care for all, or politicians who want to get re-elected at our expense and leaders who appear willing to retreat while declaring victory? (In all truth, their retreat started long ago.)
You know that single payer resolution that was unanimously passed at the recent AFL-CIO Convention? You can wipe your you know what with it. It is being ignored. Being ignored is bad enough when Congress [as usual] does it, but it is appalling when union leadership ignors the ranks and file!
HR 3962 is a sell-out of the first order!
Tino: How long has this “reform” taken, and it still is not a final bill, probably not until 2010, then we have to wait to 2013 to go into place? Not perfect, you can bet your health care benefits it isn’t! You sound like a HCAN “activist”, if the insurance industry was willing to spend a million $$ a day to fight real reform, what makes you sure it will be easier in the future? Your quote “We progressives tend to loose (sic) on issues because we always want things to be perfect or to meet the desires of every different group. Why get only milk when we demand cookies with that milk?!! The Senate is opposing the House version, again Joe Lieberman is being an ass and who know what they will put in their version. Overall, I think we lost overall, thanks to the HCAN group for killing the single payer drive, along with the AFL-CIO for not listening to their dues paying members. Yes we are going to get the big band-aid, eventually it will bleed again. And the number of people without insurance dying will probably increase. Thanks Congress!
So,it looks like we are gonna replace a bad system with another bad system.
I thought the whole idea of reform was to lower costs and make it more accessible. But it dosen’t look like we’re gonna get that. So why are we involved in this mess. Look, we’re Union people,and to me it should be simple,sorta like,if you want health care,join the Union.
To ggossett001
Are you serious? Really now, are you serious?
Your anti-immigrant screed uses the same hollow arguments that are being peddled by racist organizations like the Minutemen and FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform). Are you and your cronies carrying the water for Wall Street, or are you simply being duped by the same neoconservative cabal that continue to steal our jobs and move them offshore?
Of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, have you ever questioned how much of that dough wound up in the hands of non-citizen foreign investors? No bother. Here’s the answer. Foreign investors raked in billion and billions of our ailout tax dollars..
And now you want to demonize dirt poor workers? In the streets people like you are called suckers. While corporatism has been picking your pocket you allowed yourself to get conned into attacking fellow workers.
And Tino, please stop justifying retreat. It is not a strategy. It is a go-along-to-get-along sell out of America’s working class. Waiting under the table for your corporate masters and their Congressional surrogates to toss a few crumbs your way is not a strategy. It is complacency, fear, and apathy concealed as an idea. Your statement, “we progressives tend to lose on issues because we always want things to be perfect” conveniently ignores one all-Important fact: Real progressive advocates for single payer were never invited to the table. In fact, we were specifically excluded. We never had a chance to argue perfection. By the way, the word “progressive” has been hi-jacked by a whole lot of pretenders. They remind me of the labor fakers who graduated from Ivy League and back-doored their way into leadership positions. They couldn’t carry the water can for real workers. They are as counterfeit as centrists who describe themselves as progressive.
Where has the fighting spirit gone fellow workers? Whatever happened to working class ideology? When did workers become too afraid to call a general strike and use their collective might to win health care justice?
Real labor heroes of yore must be rolling in their graves while asking themselves, “Whatever happened to working class backbone”?
We won’t be given anything. We never have and we never will. Everything we got we had to take. Those that went before us made great sacrifices so that we could live better. They didn’t retreat, and neither should we! Not one inch!
HR 3962 is a cold-blooded sell-out by Democrats and their brown-nosing, labor faking stooges!
The AFL-CIO membership unanimously endorsed Single Payer HR 676 resolution at the Convention. I was one of the delegates who voted in favor of it. Now it is up to our leaders of the AFL-CIO who we elected to fight for it. Are you listening Richard???? Nothing less will do or make a change. I have been a Union member for 36 years. I live in Ohio. Dennis Kucinich is right on for voting against HR 3962. Shame on Charlie Wilson, Sherod Brown & Obama for not fighting for & supporting Single Payer. Especially when Obama supported HR 676 during his campaign. Alot of them did, but are now changing their view. (we all know why). Get it right or don’t do it. If it was not for the past fights/working class backbone of the AFL-CIO, we would not have many things such as Social Security (yes, goverment ran) & other benefits we all share today. Yes, this is going to be another of those hard fought fights that we must win, and it is a fight we cannot give up on for the sake of all Americans. I have many friends that live in Canada. They would not want what we have, but would rather keep what they now have. My employer tries to do the right thing and provide their employees with Health Care. But how much longer can they & we who contribute from our paychecks each pay keep paying the high cost? I fear that if HR 676 is not passed, the day will come (soon) that none of us in America will have Health Coverage because of the cost. I have worked a hard repeditive job in a factory for 35 years. My body is starting to give out. I want to be able to retire at age 62, but can’t without affordable health care coverage. HR 3962 is not going to make this possible. HR 676 will. I voted for Obama, Wilson, Brown & others for two reasons. #1: I felt we had a chance of getting REAL affordable Health Care for all Americans passed with them being elected. #2: I felt that they would get America out of the war. Neither is probably going to happen. All voters should be watching & vote accordingly next election. I know I will. It is time the Dems. keep their promises. They need to have some guts & do the right thing & not bow to insurance companies that help pay for their campaigns, but rather vote in the best interest of the ones that voted them into office. Same goes for our newly elected AFL-CIO Officers. Again, are you listening Rich? I definitely agree with the last three paragraphs of Rich A. To the AFL-CIO: Now get in there and tell the Senate to forget HR 3962, and pass UNANIMOUSLY HR 676. Then tell President Obama to sign it. Or else. And make sure you Tell them what the or else will be. They won’t be re-elected. Plain & simple……..
Why does the AFL-CIO think that all of it’s members are stupid? This heathcare legislation is a puny step in the wrong direction because it’s still steers the people toward the predatory Insurance companies who will gouge them courtesy of their “chore boys” in Congress.