Your Message to Kathleen Sebelius
In This Edition
- LET'S GIVE KATHLEEN SEBELIUS OUR GOOD REASONS FOR HEALTH CARE REFORM
- ANOTHER MURDER BY RIGHT WING EXTREMISTS
- SOTOMAYOR BY THE NUMBERS (2)
- AN AMBASSADOR FOR GLOBAL WOMEN'S ISSUES
- THE LAST WORD
"I think that competition is a good thing, most Americans understand that choice and competition is what we want. So, if you look at a health exchange, a marketplace, where people can have some options - in many parts of the country, private insurers have no competitor, in a state like my own home state of Kansas. There is a dominant insurance company in a lot of the states.
"So, we created a public option for state employees, so they could choose side-by-side benefits and prices. Competition is good. You can write the rules for a level playing field...
"I don't think it's a big surprise that a lot of insurers say, you know, what we would really like is, everybody who doesn't have insurance to be told they must buy it, and buy it only from us." - Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on CNN, June 14
The fight for health care reform is on! And it is a fight; with billions of dollars at stake, opponents are pushing back hard to protect their interests, and their profits.
Will there be a public option? "Americans should have the choice of a public health insurance option operating alongside private plans" President Obama wrote to Congress. "This will give them a better range of choices, make the health care market more competitive and keep insurance companies honest."
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is helping to lead the fight for health care - and as someone who used to regulate the insurance industry - she understands what's at stake.
LET'S GIVE KATHLEEN SEBELIUS OUR GOOD REASONS FOR HEALTH CARE REFORM
So many of you have written us with your personal examples of why our health care system is broken. We've talked to our friends at HHS, and they agree, your stories are powerful. They'd like to hear from you. Submit your health care stories here.
Tell Secretary Kathleen Sebelius how important health care reform is to you, and to your family. Let her know the kind of changes that will make a difference for you - including a public option that will give us all more choices, and "keep the insurance companies honest."
(And please share your story with us here so we can also post some of your great messages on NoLimits.org!)
The special interests have lots of paid advocates speaking for them - it's up to us to make sure our voices are heard!
ANOTHER MURDER BY RIGHT WING EXTREMISTS
June 10, 2009: Stephen Tyrone Johns, an African-American security guard at Washington's Holocaust Museum, was shot and killed by a man with a history of anti-Jewish, anti-black statements. Johns was 39 years old and the father of a son. His murder comes two weeks after the slaying of Dr. George Tiller of Kansas. We are grateful for the lives of these good men, and extend our sympathy to their families.
I have a very different message for those who denounced the warnings of the Department of Homeland Security this past April about the danger of right wing extremists..
Tragically, the accuracy of the DHS report has now been confirmed.. For a reminder of how it was attacked, see this video from Media Matters:
SOTOMAYOR BY THE NUMBERS (2)
I hope you've seen our Sotomayor fact sheet, now on the front page of our main web site - it gives great information about why Sonia Sotomayor is so well qualified to serve on the Supreme Court.
Now, as her opponents are unable to find serious reasons to oppose Sotomayor's confirmation, they're complaining about the process. So here's another set of numbers worth knowing:
SCHEDULE: SAME NUMBER OF DAYS TO BE CONFIRMED AS CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS
If confirmed before the Senate recesses on August 7, Judge Sotomayor will be confirmed 73 days after the announcement of her designation. Chief Justice Roberts was confirmed in 72 days.
SAME DAYS SET FOR HEARING AS CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS
Senate Democrats agreed to a hearing for 48 days after Roberts's nomination was announced. Sotomayor hearings are scheduled for 48 days after her designation.
LONGER TIME TO START OF CONFIRMATION HEARINGS THAN FOR ROBERTS AND ALITO
Chief Justice Roberts: From designation to hearings announced: 10 days
Justice Alito: From designation to hearings announced: 4 days
Sotomayor: From designation to hearing announced: 14 days
AN AMBASSADOR FOR GLOBAL WOMEN'S ISSUES
An important event at the U.S. State Department on Friday means good news for women - and men - around the world, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton swore in her friend and former Chief of Staff Melanne Verveer as the first ever U.S. Ambassador for Global Women's Issues.
"There is so much work to be done to improve the status of women and girls in many parts of the world" Hillary said earlier this week. "Every single day, you can pick up the newspaper or turn on the TV or log on to a website and see the reports of terrible assaults on women's progress. We have to fight these attacks on women's rights, and we have to address the conditions that hold women back and continue to make them the majority of the world's poor, hungry, and unhealthy."
"I don't believe that we can be successful in the many challenges that we face around the world if we don't stand up for the rights of women."
There is so much to be done; but let's take a minute to cheer the new Ambassador for Global Women's Issues - and the commitment of the United States to the lives of women and girls around the world.
THE LAST WORD:
"It was a warning to us all, and it appears now they were right"
- Fox News anchor Shep Smith, of the DHS report about right-wing extremists - which was loudly criticized on the Fox network when it appeared.
Sincerely,
Ann Lewis