BREAKING FROM DENNIS KUCINICH: Why We Desperately Need Health Care for All - Now

[ddeclue]

Why We Desperately Need Health Care for All - Now

Dear Friends,

More about why we desperately need health care for all:

This past weekend, I visited a festival at a church in a working class area of my district. These events are opportunities for people from the community to gather, to eat ethnic foods, listen to music and enjoy each other's company; before the brisk, brooding Cleveland winter begins to set in. When I walked through the doors, I felt as though I had stepped back in time, to when I was a child growing up in the inner city of Cleveland where I witnessed people struggling every day to make ends meet. From this early experience I have learned to recognize poverty, the clothes it wears and the physical appearance it presents.

What I saw in the church were humble people whose shoes were well worn and whose clothes were in need of repair. I also saw people struggling with various stages of ill health, with obvious physical difficulties. I know what poverty feels like and I felt it here and I was surprised. What made this visit memorable was that it occurred in a suburban community which had formerly been known for its solid middle class housing.

Meanwhile about 400 miles away, in Washington, DC, the insurance companies have wielded enormous influence to knock a public option out of the Senate Finance Committee health care bill and we still struggle to keep the public option alive in the House. A decision is due soon from the full Senate. Will they actually pass a bill which requires that Americans buy private insurance? The House continues to try to determine the shape and content of our legislation.

The political system is failing the American people. Money for Wall Street, not for Main Street. Money for War, not for Peace. Money to move jobs out of America, not to create new jobs here. Money for insurance companies, but what about the people?

While 47 million uninsured wait for an answer, and another 50 million underinsured stand by, Americans are losing their jobs, their homes, their health care and their retirement security. How long can people wait for help?

I am asking you to continue to join me in the push to have a state single payer amendment in the health care bill. Whatever passes the Congress will be insufficient to meet the broad based health care needs of the American people, which is why it is important to give the states the option to move toward single payer. Call your representative now and demand that the Kucinich state single payer amendment remain in the bill.

In my community, and many others across our nation, the level of human suffering from an economy "gone bad" is rising to shocking levels. A recent US Census report states that in this decade the number of northeastern Ohioans who live fractionally above the poverty line has risen 10% - to a quarter of a million people.

But I do not see cold statistics. I see real people. I see the poverty lining their faces. I see their eyes asking: Why?

Sincerely,

[sabrina 1]

1. K&R for Dennis

I heard he was on Jay Leno last night, but it was over by the time I found out. Would love to have seen him.

[slay]

2. Don't know about last night - but he was on in a skit a few nights ago

it was OK - was about dems and repubs working together to benefit the people (imagine that!) but is just not realistic the way republicans are ya know.

i just checked last night's intro and didn't see anything about Dennis. here's the link if ya wanna look: http://www.thejaylenoshow.com/video/episodes/#vid=1168194

K&R for Dennis.

[sabrina 1]

10. Aw, thanks. I got an email from Dennis' website

which is where I saw it.

Oops, now I feel like an idiot. I don't check my email every day so, what I saw yesterday was from Oct.15th.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich to Appear on Jay Leno Tonight

Dear Friends,

Usually when I message you, it is a call for action or for support of our campaign's efforts.

I'm writing today on a less serious note - to make sure you tune in to the bipartisan appearance by myself and my colleague, Congressman Steve LaTourette, on the Jay Leno Show tonight, Thursday, October 15th on NBC.

Please check your local listings to determine what time the show airs in your area.

I hope you enjoy the show!

Sincerely,
Dennis

I'll use your link to see if I can find it, thanks again ~ :-)

[slay]

14. Here's the link for the Oct 15th show where he was on Leno

in that skit -- http://www.thejaylenoshow.com/video/episodes/#vid=1167349

I'm not a big fan of Jay and find his humor much too tame for my tastes. But anything that gets Dennis out there so people see him is a good thing IMO. :)

[sabrina 1]

24. Thank you!

I'm not wild about Jay Leno either but if he is willing to give Dennis K. a platform I'll watch it.

[Desertrose]

3. K&R for Dennis & single payer!!

Sign the petition! :)

[NightWatcher]

4. let me guess...another petition? I mean K and R

I support him and the idea of single payer, but in this bought and paid for land of lobbyists, it seems very unlikely to happen.

Anything, just not another petition.

[flvegan]

5. Dennis gets it, as usual.

K&R

[MissMarple]

13. And not just the need for health care, he also illustrates the slow degradation of the middle class.

Health care/health insurance crisis is similar to the canary in the coal mine. I agree, Dennis "gets" it.

[inna]

6. KR for Dennis and HR 676!

[G_j]

7. excellent nt

[Orsino]

8. K&R for Dennis the Menace, who gets it...

...and doesn't pretend not to. :thumbsup:

[Vidar]

9. Recommended for Dennis.

[slipslidingaway]

11. Everybody in, nobody out! n/t

[msaroff]

12. Repeal ERISA Preemption

Let the states compete against each other to supply better healthcare, as opposed to the tax break blood letting that they do now.

[DemBones DemBones]

15. Dennis is the real deal. I'm proud of every vote I've cast for him.

K&R

[slay]

17. I hope to one day cast my vote for him as well...

for President! Hell I might just write him name in one time. :)

[debbierlus]

16. Kick. Love and Light to Dennis & his lovely wife

What a guy!

He should have been President.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

18. If anyone

could see poverty lining the faces of people, it would be Dennis.

K&R

[HamdenRice]

19. Maybe someday Dennis will accomplish something other than "calling for" things

I'll give Dennis one thing: he writes a great press release for his own 'calling for' stuff.

[Forkboy]

20. Maybe someday you'll do more than post on an internet message board.

[HamdenRice]

21. My friend, I think I've done my share and I'm getting old

My parasite load from living in Africa, especially from doing research on the land question in apartheid South Africa near the Botswana border, and from drinking bad Chinese water, trying to advise on cleaning up the Yangtze and preserving farmland in Sichuan, makes me think my decades in the bush are over.

Also, now that I have family commitments, I doubt I ever want to experience anything like staring down the barrel of a scared African soldier in Liberia, or being tear gassed in Sowto, again, let alone being detained along with my translator by a crazed drunken, murderous homelands chief and his henchmen in Tsetse.

[Forkboy]

27. Kick for your reply.

And an apology to go with it.

[Romulox]

29. LOL. Funny stuff! nt

[Overseas]

22. K&R. Open up Medicare! Single Payer Now! //nt

[fascisthunter]

23. there is nothing more immoral than people profiting off others

who are either sick or dying. And I am not talking about doctors and nurses who take care of the sick and dying, but those who determine who gets service from those individuals mentioned. Those folks should be compensated, insurance companies and their investors can all go to hell.

[saracat]

25. k+R Thanks for speaking out, not that anyone is really listening.

[liberalhistorian]

26. And the truly infuriating thing is that these people are a hop,

skip and a jump from the Cleveland Clinic, a world-renowned facility that attracts patients from around the world. While it's supposed to be "non-profit", the dirty little truth is that ALL it cares about is PROFIT and it does NOT comply with a lot of rules regulating how nonprofit hospitals must act. And it doesn't care, either, because it gets away with it. Why? Precisely because it's the Cleveland Clinic. Go a couple blocks from any of the CC buildings and you'll be in an area where the only time any residents will ever see the inside of the Clinic is if they're cleaning it, preparing its food or emptying its bedpans. Period. If you don't have money or excellent comprehensive insurance, you don't exist to them and they want nothing to do with you.

University Hospitals is pretty much the same way, despite their renowned reputation as well. Of course, they killed my best friend, who died after months of needless suffering due to their negligence, so I'm not feeling all too charitable towards them nowadays anyway.

[Greyhound]

28. Why, indeed.

Too late to rec, but here's another :kick:

[pissedoffhippie]

30. without price controls, there will be no reform

I suggest you all listen to the latest "This American Life" on NPR. It's all about medical insurance.

Without price controls, and an honest and efficient government to regulate them, there will be no healthcare reform. Only more ripoffs, more corruption, more needless suffering...

Watch SICKO again too.

[Echo In Light]

31. Error: you can only recommend threads which were started in the past 24 hours