Afternoon News: “It’s time for reform”
From the Politico:
Reform supporters are planning to hold more than 500 events between Wednesday and when lawmakers return to Washington Sept. 8, ranging from neighborhood organized phone banks to professionally staffed rallies with hundreds of people.
...“In these last few weeks of recess we want to demonstrate the energy, passion and commitment that the American people have to health insurance reform so that when members return after Labor Day they know that they can turn their attention to getting this done because they have the backing of the American people,” said DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse.
... Democrats and their allies insist that the majority of Americans still support reform and have organized the grassroots campaign to buck up lawmakers as they get ready to head back to Washington.
A health-insurance-reform-now bus will travel the country starting Wednesday and anchor events in 11 cities: Phoenix, Albuquerque, Denver, Des Moines, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Charlotte, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio.
From WABI:
A group supporting President Obama's healthcare reform may be coming to a living room near you. A grassroots project called Organizing For America has been setting up roundtable discussion groups in private homes. Today they held a discussion in Bangor at the home of Molly Goode. Goode's son, Adam, represents District 15 of Bangor in the House of Representatives.
State Senator Joe Perry Order Generic Accutane Online without Prescription was a part of the panel along with residents who shared their stories regarding healthcare and also discussed, what they say, is an urgent need for healthcare reform. "It's on the front burner," says Senator Perry, "it's a serious problem that we're facing, you know, healthcare costs and I came here because I want to hear the stories and I know this is a federal issue but it certainly affects every Mainer."
Director of the project, Julian Federle, says they're trying to get the facts about healthcare reform out there, as well as provide a civilized forum for debate. "The fact is I think Mainers are very interested in this debate," says Federle, "they're more interested in sitting down and having a discussion like this one then they are about screaming and shouting."
From the Shreveport Times:
Supporters of health care reforms, including a public health insurance option, rolled through Shreveport Monday to U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's office at the federal courthouse in downtown Shreveport.
Kim Brabham, of Bossier City, was among 15 people participating in the consciousness-raising caravan. She's a volunteer with Organizing for America, a group that supports President Barack Obama's vision for health care reform.
Congress will take up the plans again in September after failing to reach agreement on a single proposal before leaving for its August vacation.
Landrieu was not in the office. The group spoke to the senator's staffers.
"...we made our voices heard," Brabham said. "We want to see our costs reduced. We want freedom of choice for our health care plan and our doctor, and we want coverage for everybody."
Brabham said because she's self-employed it's "either pay through the nose or get nothing or have nothing at all" when it comes to health insurance. She drove her sign-decorated van through her neighborhood after leaving Monday's event to get out her message to more people.
From the Ashland Daily Tidings:
Local Democrats are rallying for health care reform as the national debate heats up.
Representatives from Health Care for America NOW, Organizing for America and Oregon Action, and concerned residents met Saturday to discuss health care reform with state Sen. Alan Bates.
A private practice doctor of three years, Bates serves on the Oregon Senate Health Care and Veterans' Affairs Committee. He says change in the health industry is coming.
"I've been fighting for health care reform for 25 years," he told a crowd of dozens at the Rogue Valley Unitarian Fellowship in Ashland. "We have never been so close."
President Barack Obama's pledge to pass a health care reform law by the end of 2009 has come under fire from Republicans and some Democrats, who oppose expanding the role of government in the health care industry. Bates argued on Saturday that the American people cannot afford to wait beyond this year.
"The number of people with insurance has been dropping," he said. "It's time for reform."
Organized by the advocacy group Health Care for America NOW, Saturday's meeting was meant to bring supporters of reform together. A large-scale canvassing movement is underway, with volunteers knocking on doors around Ashland to sign petitions, urging their representatives to pass a health care bill...Following the discussion, volunteers spread throughout Ashland neighborhoods to gather signatures. Future rallies for health care reform will take place in Medford and Central Point the first week of September.
