Great Gains in 2008:
To Hold Them in 2010, We Must Help Our New President Succeed
Thank you!
In 1992, Bill Clinton came to the White House with much fanfare after a 12 year Republican lock on the White House. He committed to reform health care as the hallmark of his first term. Two years later, he was fighting for his political life against the tide of the Gingrich Revolution and the Contract with America. His health care reform plans lay in tatters and the Democratic congressional majority was lost. Opponents of reform were better funded and had a better message, convincing Americans through their "Harry and Louise" ads that proponents of reform would take away choice.
Now, Democrats have been entrusted by the American people once again to lead, and more hope has been placed in President-Elect Obama than in any leader since Franklin Roosevelt. It is imperative that he deliver the change that the American people demand, and that that change be tangible - he must make a difference in the daily lives of most Americans that they can see is a direct result of his leadership and that of the Democratic Senate and Congress. It is our job to do everything possible to help him.
In October, President-Elect Obama spent 86% of his media budget on health care ads, and a total of 68% of his media budget throughout the campaign. He has set the expectations of Americans through repeated statements that health care reform will be a top priority of his presidency.
On October 4th, President-Elect Obama said "the question isn't how we can afford to focus on health care - but now we can afford not to. Because in order to fix our economic crisis, and rebuild our middle class, we need to fix our health care system too...So it's clear that the time has come - right now - to solve this problem: to cut health care costs for families and businesses, and provide affordable, accessible health insurance for every American." On October 6th, he endorsed Health Care for America Now, the national grassroots health care reform campaign, saying "I am proud to join HCAN's efforts to tackle the tough challenges we face in reforming our nation's healthcare system".
The HCAN/Obama plan must become law and be implemented prior to the 2010 elections, and it's critical that we must all support the President-elect. Here's what HCAN is doing:
- We will deliver a majority of Congressional support for the HCAN/Obama plan prior to Inauguration Day (we currently have 156 Senators and Members of Congress on board).
- We have done extensive research, polling and focus groups to determine the best way to talk about health care reform in a way that will not be spun by the opposition into "socialized or government run medicine".
- We have developed a nationwide network of activists who are working energetically in their communities to educate the public on the HCAN/Obama plan and why it benefits them, as well as putting pressure on legislators to back the plan and to "protect the back" of the legislators who have already signed on.
- We have developed a nationwide Speaker's Bureau of influencers who we will book on national and local media to educate the public on the HCAN/Obama plan.
- We built a powerful coalition including labor and progressive organizations who exercise tremendous influence over decision-makers and constituents.
- We ran television ads in 6 Congressional Districts and 1 Senate race, as well as ads about the presidential campaign in Ohio, to educate the public about the dangers of a non-health care reform candidate. In 6 out of 8 races, the pro health care reform candidate was elected.
- We are prepared to immediately counter those special interests with powerful ads provided we have the funds to get on the air.
Here's what you can do to help President-Elect Obama now:
- Meet with HCAN to discuss our plan for 2009 and find out how you can participate;
- Call your Senators and Member of Congress, and those you influence, and ask them to support the HCAN/Obama plan in 2009 (the most current list of endorsers is attached);
- Fund our grassroots efforts and help build a war chest to fight the insurance lobby and other interests when they try to turn 2009 into 1993. This time, we know what to do, and we know that we will need tremendous resources to do it.
Richard Kirsch
National Campaign Manager
Health Care for America Now
Kerry Greeley
Director of Development
Health Care for America Now
P.S. Here are some more details on what HCAN is doing right now.
Click here to view our latest ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVN5rEEPhdY
156 Members of Congress have signed onto HCAN's Statement of Common Purpose
Please find the complete list below or check it out online at: http://blog.healthcareforamericanow.org/co...or-america-now/
President-elect Barack Obama
Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Arizona
Representative Raul Grijalva
Arkansas
Representative Marion Berry
Representative Mike Ross
California
Representative Joe Baca
Representative Lois Capps
Representative Susan Davis
Representative Bob Filner
Representative Michael M. Honda
Representative Barbara Lee
Representative Loretta Sanchez
Representative Adam Schiff
Representative Brad Sherman
Representative Hilda L. Solis
Representative Jackie Speier
Representative Pete Stark
Representative Henry Waxman
Representative Lynn Woolsey
Colorado
Representative Diana DeGette
Representative-elect Betsy Markey
Connecticut
Representative Joe Courtney
Representative Rosa DeLauro
Representative John B. Larson
Representative Christopher Murphy
Delaware
Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Florida
Representative Corrine Brown
Representative Kathy Castor
Representative-elect Alan Grayson
Representative Kendrick B. Meek
Representative Wasserman Schultz
Representative Robert Wexler
Georgia
Representative Hank Johnson
Hawaii
Senator Daniel K. Inouye
Representative Neil Abercrombie
Illinois
Senator Richard Durbin
Senator Barack Obama
Representative Danny K. Davis
Representative Rahm Emanuel
Representative Luis V. Gutierrez
Representative-elect Debbie Halvorson
Representative Phil Hare
Representative Jesse L. Jackson, Jr.
Representative Janice Schakowsky
Iowa
Senator Tom Harkin
Representative Leonard L. Boswell
Representative Bruce Braley
Representative Dave Loebsack
Kansas
Representative Nancy Boyda
Kentucky
Representative Ben Chandler
Representative John Yarmuth
Louisiana
Senator Mary Landrieu
Representative William Jefferson
Maine
Representative-elect Chellie Pingree
Maryland
Senator Benjamin L. Cardin
Senator Barbara Mikulski
Representative Elijah Cummings
Representative Donna F. Edwards
Representative C.A. (Dutch) Ruppersberger
Representative John Sarbanes
Representative Chris VanHollen
Massachusetts
Senator John F. Kerry
Representative William Delahunt
Michigan
Senator Debbie Stabenow
Representative John Conyers, Jr.
Representative David E. Kildee
Representative Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick
Representative-elect Gary Peters
Representative-elect Mark Schauer
Minnesota
Representative Keith Ellison
Representative Betty McCollum
Representative Jim Oberstar
Representative Tim Walz
Missouri
Representative Russ Carnahan
Representative Emanuel Cleaver
Nevada
Representative Shelley Berkley
Representative-elect Dina Titus
New Hampshire
Senator-elect Jeanne Shaheen
Representative Paul Hodes
Representative Carol Shea-Porter
New Jersey
Senator Frank R. Lautenberg
Senator Robert Menendez
Representative-elect John Adler
Representative Robert Andrews
Representative Rush Holt
Representative Frank LoBiondo
Representative Frank Pallone, Jr.
Representative Bill Pascrell
Representative Donald M. Payne
Representative Steven R. Rothman
Representative Albio Sires
New Mexico
Representative-elect Martin Heinrich
Representative-elect Harry Teague
New York
Representative Michael A. Arcuri
Representative Timothy Bishop
Representative Yvette D. Clarke
Representative Joseph Crowley
Representative Kirsten Gillibrand
Representative John Hall
Representative Brian Higgins
Representative-elect Dan Maffei
Representative-elect Eric Massa
Representative Carolyn Maloney Representative Carolyn McCarthy
Representative Gregory W. Meeks Representative Jerrold Nadler Representative Charles B. Rangel
Representative Jose E. Serrano
Representative-elect Paul Tonko
Representative Edolphus Towns Representative Nydia Velazquez
Representative Anthony Weiner
North Carolina
Representative G.K. Butterfield
Representative Brad Miller
Ohio
Representative-elect John Boccieri
Representative Marcy Kaptur
Representative Tim Ryan
Representative Betty Sutton
Representative Charlie A. Wilson
Oregon
Senator-elect Jeff Merkley
Representative Earl Blumenauer
Representative Peter DeFazio
Representative-elect Kurt Schrader
Representative David Wu
Pennsylvania
Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr.
Representative Jason Altmire
Representative Robert A. Brady
Representative-elect Kathy Dahlkemper
Representative Mike Doyle
Representative Chaka Fattah
Representative Paul E. Kanjorski
Representative Patrick Murphy
Representative Allyson Y. Schwartz
Rhode Island
Representative Patrick J. Kennedy
Representative Jim Langevin
South Dakota
Senator Tim Johnson
Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin
Tennessee
Representative Steve Cohen
Representative Jim Cooper
Texas
Representative Lloyd Doggett
Representative Charles A. Gonzalez
Representative Al Green
Representative Gene Green
Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee
Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson
Representative Ciro D. Rodriguez
Vermont
Representative Peter Welch
Virginia
Senator-elect Mark Warner
Representative-elect Gerry Connolly
Washington
Representative Norman D. Dicks
Representative Jim McDermott
Representative Adam Smith
West Virginia
Representative Nick J. Rahall
Wisconsin
Representative Tammy Baldwin
Representative Steve Kagen
Representative Ron Kind
Representative Gwen Moore
Representatives Michael McNulty (NY) and Thomas Allen (ME) are supporters in the 110th Congress but will be retiring.
Italics indicates Republican Members