Guaranteed Healthcare

By Donna Smith

I feel something coming on in this country.  Our healthcare reform effort is catching a bit of a cold.  Actually it’s a virus.  The Blue Dog and the Blue Blood flu.  And this flu bug will kill far more people than the swine flu or the bird flu.

Here’s how we got sick…

Way back in the fall during the campaign season, we had great hope for an Obama administration that seemed to understand very clearly that healthcare is a human right.  Then came the declarations of the new administration and the promises from Congress.  We’ll get it done this year, they said.  And because we all know thousands of American lives hang in the balance every month, we believed they meant to end the suffering and many of our leaders probably did intend to act.

But the bailout for Wall Street came first.  Then more money flowed to the financial markets.  And more money still.  The work on healthcare reform was held back a bit as the economy’s failing and ailing was first in line for action.

CNA/NNOC has been hot on the trail of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) executives for a long time.  Since we marched in San Francisco on June 19th, 2008, with thousands, to the front of the Capital Hilton in our hazmat suits in Washington, DC, in late September 2008, to the cold winds of Chicago and that Magnificent Mile march to the AHIP meeting there in November 2008, we have taken the message forward:  We want healthcare not for-profit health insurance for everyone in this nation.

And watch this video to see newly elected Congressman Eric Massa of New York, tell the story once again, today - March 10th, 2009, in front of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Georgetown, where AHIP heard us yet again.

http://www.massaforcongress.com/index.asp

WASHINGTON, DC -- Within less than a week of being sworn in as the new Congressman from New York's 29th Congressional District, Eric Massa proudly informed Rep. John Conyers that he will co-sponsor HR676.  Massa also proclaimed his intent to be active in his support of the bill to provide publicly funded, privately delivered healthcare to every Amercian.

Many of CNA/NNOC's tireless RNs will remember visiting Massa's district during the election season with the bus tour that brought the RNs report card on candidates' healthcare refrom plans to the battleground states and districts. 

In addition to being a staunch supporter of healthcare reform, Massa is a cancer survivor and a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Navy.  He defeated a Republican incumbent to take the Congressional seat and wasted no time diving into the work that needs to be done in Washington.

Like many candidates from this cycle, Massa took on tough issues and fought hard -- and still has bills to pay from the campaign. Any individuals who may wish to congratulate Rep. Massa on his co-sponsorship or help him in any way can visit his campaign site link above.

Massa made a special point during his swearing-in reception to thank the nurses who traveled to his district to talk to voters about healthcare and those activists on the ground in his district who stood by him even when the going got tough.  Welcome to Washington, Rep. Massa. 

This is a good day for single payer.

Two champions, Kathy Dahlkemper from the 3rd CD in Pennsylvania and Eric Massa from the 29th CD in New York, won seats in the 111th Congress.

I think it's fair to say that we hope and expect Kathy and Eric will become co-sponsors of HR 676 as soon as they are sworn into office.

During the pre-election bus tour of Northeast swing states in which I was privileged to participate, we swung through the Massa and Dahlkemper districts.

Ms. Dahlkemper scored a huge upset  against the incumbent Representative Phil English in the socially conservative and traditionally Repuglican northwestern corner of Pennsylvania.

Mr. English, a lifelong resident of Erie, has held the Third District seat since 1995 and is a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Good bye  Good riddance Phil English. Go find yourself a job on K Street.

Ms. Dahlkemper, a co-owner of a family landscaping business, boasted that she was “not a career politician,” and she tied Mr. English to President Bush’s economic policies. Welcome to the movement for guaranteed and affordable healthcare.  We hope you will stand shoulder to shoulder with John Conyers on HR 676.

The bus tour also took us the the 29th Congressional district in New York. It was a good night for Eric Massa, another single payer supporter,  another co-sponsor of HR 676, a veteran and war hero, who took down Randy Kuhl. 

By Donna Smith 

ROCHESTER, New York -- On a gorgeous fall day in New York state, nurses of the National Nurses Organizing Committee and the California Nurses Association brought the healthcare report card bus into Rochester for more education and outreach to voters who are watching their own ability to afford healthcare and access appropriate care wane. Though a brisk breeze was blowing, the bright sun and vibrant fall colors framed the day with natural beauty.

Citizens gathered to talk about their own struggles and to listen to RN Geri Jenkins, CNA/NNOC Council of Presidents.  One young couple stood patiently waiting to meet Geri, and Geri learned a great deal from the couple about the issues America's veterans face in when they return home with injuries.  One such veteran, William Reynolds of Rochester, was injured in November 2004 while serving in the U.S. Army in Baghdad, Iraq. (and read more on the next page as well)

By Donna Smith, community organizer, CNA/NNOC

CORNING, NY -- Well, it's a little difficult to interview Congressional candidate Eric Massa as he sits in a restuarant near his Corning, NY, campaign office.  Future constituents and friends drop by the table in an almost constant flow of energy for a man who already is showing tremendous leadership on issues he knows are critical to the hard working people in his southern and central New York district.

Eric talks baseball with one young man, and then admits he doesn't have much time to watch baseball so he may not be quite up-to-date on the teams' progress.  With another couple he talks about how the local businesses are fairing this summer.  Then he settles in to talk about issues he hears out in his district -- New York's 29th Congressional district.