Obama’s First 100 Days Mark Major Wins for Working Families
It’s worth repeating—again and again: What a difference an election makes, especially an election in which working family voters pool their strength and efforts to put an end to the most anti-worker, corporate-beholden administration in modern times and elect a president who shares our values and dreams.
Today is the 100th day of Barack Obama’s presidency. In the past three months, Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and the Democratic Congress—operating with a Republican axe hanging over it—have made major strides to rebuild America for working families.
Beware of the Big Lie Bill
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Opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act in Congress made their Big Lie into a bill Wednesday, when Republican Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.) and Mike Enzi (Wyo.) introduced the so-called Secret Ballot Protection Act.
Before we go further, let’s clear up the bill’s false implication right now:
The Employee Free Choice Act would not—repeat after me—would not, take away the secret ballot National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election process if workers seeking to form a union wanted to use it. The Employee Free Choice would ensure workers made the decision of whether to select a union via majority sign-up (card-check) or via ballot process. Choice is good. That’s one reason why we called it Employee Free Choice—because it would enable employees, not management, to make the decision of how to form a union.
The alleged goal of S. 478 is to:
amend the National Labor Relations Act to ensure the right of employees to a secret-ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.
Obama Signs Health Insurance Bill for Low-Income Children
Four million low-income kids can now join another 7 million children with health coverage after President Obama this afternoon signed a bill renewing the state-based program for low-income children for another four and a half years.
The White House ceremony came just hours after the House gave final approval (290-135) to the bill and caps a nearly two-year struggle to extend health care coverage to children whose families cannot afford private insurance. With the program’s expansion, 11 million children are now covered.
In signing the bill, Obama said:
Since it was created more than 10 years ago, the Children’s Health Insurance Program has been a lifeline for millions of children whose parents work full-time and don’t qualify for Medicaid, but, through no fault of their own, don’t have and can’t afford private insurance.
Senate Passes Bill Extending Health Coverage to Low-Income Children
Some 4 million more low-income kids are getting closer to receiving health care coverage, after the Senate last night approved (66-32) a four-and-a-half year extension of a state-based program that provides health insurance for low-income children. Some 7 million children are currently enrolled.
It’s not been an easy path for the children’s health care program. Bush twice vetoed similar bills in 2007. But President Barack Obama will sign the legislation. Says Sen. Max Baucus:
When President Obama signs this bill, the real victory will belong not to politicians, but to kids…[it] gets kids in low-income working families the doctor’s visits and medicines they need when they’re sick, and the checkups they need to stay well.
BushWatch: Eight Years of Health Care Failure
With the reauthorization of the nation’s health care program for 11 million low-income children (State Children’s Health Insurance Program), today’s look back at BushWatch examines the president’s record on health care. It’s not pretty—especially his two vetoes of the children’s health program.
(Click here and here for first two parts of our BushWatch review.)
After eight years of chronicling President Bush’s actions, it’s clear the common thread in his health care decisions, policy initiatives, legislation and regulations is this: preserving and protecting the private, for-profit health care industry—especially the massive health insurance industry and pharmaceutical giants.
The corporate health care cult has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in lobbying expenses and campaign contributions to influence health care policy in Washington. It’s paid off. The children’s health care program is a great example.
House Passes Children’s Health Insurance Extension
With President Bush’s veto pen just days away from running out of ink, the U.S. House of Representatives today passed (289-139) a four-and-a-half year extension of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The bill will provide health care coverage to an additional 4 million low-income children, along with preserving coverage for the nearly 7 million already enrolled.
In 2007, despite bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, Bush twice vetoed similar bills. But President-elect Barack Obama says providing health care coverage for the nation’s children is a top priority and will sign the bill.
