A Healthcare System that Works for Everyone
We will join 36 other industrialized nations in making sure everyone has access to affordable health care, starting by fixing the prescription drug program and investing in stem cell and other medical research.
In the wealthiest, most powerful nation on earth, no one should have to choose between taking their child to a doctor and paying the rent. Democrats are committed to making sure every single American has access to affordable, effective health care coverage. We want to fix the disastrous Medicare Part D and ensure our seniors can afford their prescription drugs.
We also believe in investing in life saving stem cell and other medical research that offers real hope for cures and treatment for millions of Americans.
As he campaigns this week on his economic tour, John McCain is desperately trying to convince America's families that he stands with them. But when it comes to the cost of health care, one of the most pressing economic issues Americans are facing today, it's going to be a tall order.
McCain’s fend-for-yourself approach to healthcare
leaves older, sicker workers behind:
McCain’s health care proposals could result in a
dramatic increase in taxes for many Americans:
Jeff Alberici, an eight-grade teacher in New York, husband and father of three, delivers this week's Democratic Radio Address. Alberici discusses Democratic plans to tackle high energy and gas prices and the Republican efforts to block them without any solutions of their own.
John McCain's crystal ball must be cloudy. In a speech and new ad today, McCain outlined a list of promises he intends to keep by 2013 if elected. The problem? On all the challenges he outlines, John McCain has either ignored the problem altogether, has no plan, has promised prescriptions that will only make matters worse, or has demonstrated rank hypocrisy.
During his remarks in Ohio this morning, Senator John McCain outlined a fictional account of what he expects the American people to believe he will do as president. In reality, on each of the issues he addresses, Senator McCain has either failed to outline any plans or has actually promised outdated ideas that would make the problem worse.
The health care system would be put on "life support" under McCain, according to a piece over at the Hill:
John McCain's healthcare proposals get an "F" on his report card.
Smooth: At his health care policy event yesterday at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Florida, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was introduced by the institute's chairman, former Republican senator Connie Mack. But, as Hotline reports, Mack...
Just received an e-mail "from the desk of John McCain." (Heh.) Today, there are 47 million uninsured individuals in the U.S., and nearly a quarter of them are children. ... which John McCain ensured did not have healthcare when he...
In a new ad and a speech at the University of South Florida today, John McCain showed once again why his approach to health care is the wrong choice for America's future.
John McCain traveled to Miami Children's Hospital to explain why he is promising four more years of the Bush health care agenda. While the number of Americans lacking health care insurance has climbed to 47 million on President Bush's watch, John McCain's health care plan would do nothing to reduce the ranks of the uninsured and nothing to ensure that cancer survivors and people with other pre-existing medical conditions can get health insurance.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain understands how to address the challenges facing America's working families, like getting quality health care.
After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000, the new John McCain is walking in lockstep with President Bush, pandering to the right wing of the Republican Party, and embracing the ideology he once denounced. On the campaign trail McCain has callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into a candidate Republicans can accept in 2008. So just who is the real John McCain? The Democratic National Committee will present a daily fact aimed at exposing the man behind the myth.
"Today we renew our call for the development of a comprehensive, science-based strategy for combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic that includes expanding access to treatment, fully funding research and education programs, expanding HIV prevention efforts, and reducing HIV-related racial disparities. If we do these things, we can save lives and ensure the quality of life for all Americans."
As he closes in on his party's nomination, John McCain is bringing the Double Talk Express to places it's never been before: like today's CPAC conference. Desperate to lock up the right wing of his party, McCain is heading to the annual Conservative Political Action Committee he skipped last year to give a speech sandwiched between Vice President Dick Cheney today and President Bush tomorrow.
"After eight years of failed Republican leadership, Americans are ready for change, not the third Bush term we'd get with any of the Republican presidential candidates," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "President Bush's final State of the Union must be just that. America literally cannot afford another State of the Union address by a Republican who may have a new name, but most certainly will support the same policies that have kept us in a never ending war in Iraq and gave us an economy that's not working for all Americans."
Expanding the children's health bill, which Republicans in Congress just blocked once again, has tremendous support from the American people. But where do the Republican presidential candidates stand on making sure more children have health care?
Back in December, Bush vetoed an expanded children's health care program -- despite an overwhelming majority in the House and the Senate favoring the bill.
On this day in 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that women have a constitutional right to privacy. Here's Governor Dean's statement:
Mitt Romney takes Michigan in the Republican Presidential primary, offering four more years of the Bush presidency.
John McCain's Double-Talk express may have rolled past his Republican cohorts in New Hampshire after a disappointing fourth place in Iowa, but his record makes one thing clear: he offers more of the same.
Mike Huckabee may have chuckled his way to an Iowa caucus win, but the voters are serious about rejecting President Bush’s failed leadership. The fact is, a vote for Mike Huckabee, like all the Republican candidates, is a vote for a third Bush term on everything from Iraq to health care, to sticking with Bush's budget busting special interest tax cuts. The American people, though, want real change and new leadership. Huckabee's not alone, and he may not win the GOP nomination. One thing is clear: whoever wins, a vote for any of the Republican candidates is a vote for a third Bush term.
Mitt's millions may have bought himself a second-place showing at the Iowa caucuses, but he can’t buy credibility. Even Republicans think Romney is telling them what he thinks they want to hear instead of what he really believes.
After diverting his private plane to seek emergency medical care last week, Rudy Giuliani showed just how out of touch he is with the needs of average Americans when he told the Tampa Tribune editorial board that Republican voters are not concerned about health care "maybe because Republicans have health care."
Romney 'doesn't recall' attending a Planned Parenthood fundraiser, but the photographic evidence is at Blue Mass Group.
Mitt's twists and turns on abortion leave the voters wondering where he really stands:
On the same day the Los Angeles Times reported that cancer survivors could be left out of the leading Republican presidential candidates' health care proposals, smooth talking Mitt Romney is slated to discuss health care at Des Moines University today.
Earlier I wrote about how your family owes $16,500.00 for the war in Iraq through 2008. Amazing, then, that President Bush decided that he wants to veto a health and education bill because he claims to be concerned about spending.
From the Concord Monitor:
The President of the March of Dimes Foundation, Dr. Jennifer Howse, delivers the Democratic Radio Address. In her address, Dr. Howse discusses the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) bill and explain the importance of the legislation to millions of children across America.
As President Bush tries to justify his veto of the bipartisan State Children's Health Insurance Program today in Arkansas, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement:
The Journal Courier in Kentucky reports today that Senator Mitch McConnell's staff has admitted that they tried to fan the flame of the smear campaign against the Frost family last week.
Smooth talking Mitt Romney is heading back to the Granite State today to defend his support for President Bush's veto of legislation that would provide health care for 8,700 uninsured children in New Hampshire.
Bush vetoed legislation that would fund and expand the Children's Health Insurance Program.
From the Kansas City Star:
While Mitt Romney is busy raising campaign cash, 56,900 uninsured children in Missouri are waiting to see if the smooth talking candidate will finally say whether he supports Bush's threat to veto legislation that would provide them health insurance.
Graeme Frost delivers this week's Democratic Radio Address. He asks Bush to sign into law the renewal of CHIP that Congress passed this week.
Governor Dean blasted President Bush today for threatening to veto legislation that would provide health care coverage for millions of low-income children.
The bill, which covers an estimated 10 million children, prevents shortfalls in funding that denies coverage and guarantees dental health and mental health. Will Bush veto coverage of millions of children?
Would Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson stand with Bush and veto children's health care?
It looks like the entirety of the Republican strategy -- in Congress and the White House -- is to prevent as much as possible from getting done for the American people. They've blocked votes on Iraq, voting rights, human rights, and troop rest. In fact, they're literally on a path for setting a record for the most obstructionist in history.
During the Democratic radio address this week, Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania called on President Bush to sign the bipartisan plan to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and provide millions of children the health care they need and deserve.
During a campaign stop in the Palmetto State today, smooth talking Mitt Romney once again refused to say how he would address America's health care crisis, saying only that he would leave it up to individual states to decide.
Smooth talking Mitt Romney continued his shameless political calculations on health care reform today. At the 10th Annual Mission Conference of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure this morning, Romney tried to position himself as a champion of universal health coverage, claiming that he will "fight to get every person in this country health insurance."
Washington, DC- After months of flip-flopping to cover up his record as Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney is back in the Sunshine State today to roll out his so-called health care plan at the Florida Medical Association's Annual Meeting in Hollywood, FL. In his latest flip-flop, Romney's plan "departs significantly from the universal health care measure that he helped forge as governor of Massachusetts, reflecting the conservative audience he must now appeal to in order to win the Republican presidential nomination."
Now Brownback's getting slammed for his position on abortion because the former "Jane Roe" (now an anti-choice evangelical) attended one of his campaign events.
Slick Mitt keeps telling voters new versions of his positions.
Mitt Romney's position on abortion has flipped...and flopped...and flipped...and now flopped again.
Fred Thompson's latest role is kind of a stretch.
From the always-insightful Ezra Klein:
If his mayoral record and ties to the pharmaceutical industry are any indication, Rudy Giuliani will not offer a health care plan that provides comprehensive coverage to all Americans.
The second tier gets nasty, as Brownback and Tancredo duke it out.
Maybe the billing records will magically spur his memory?
Mitt Romney mixes it up with Fred Thompson.
Romney shifting his position on abortion (video).
And Romney might want to get his dates straight. His pro-life epiphany just doesn’t add up
"While the former Tennessee senator opposes the Roe v. Wade decision and built a solidly anti-abortion record in Congress, he has indicated that he would not move to outlaw the procedure."
Romney-McCain spat continues to heat up over abortion:
Pushes no abortions for rape victims, and cites imaginary studies:
"Republican presidential candidate Tommy Thompson said Thursday he's frustrated that health care isn't playing a bigger role in the 2008 election."
During Tuesday's debate, Sam Brownback repeatedly gestured to his own stomach when referring to the "womb." Is there something he's not telling us?
"Planned Parenthood is planning a rally outside tonight's debate site at the University of South Carolina, and although the group said it hopes to press the Republican candidates into 'the mainstream,'"
After months of taking inconsistent positions on abortion, Rudy Giuliani has apparently come up with a new story. Really. This is it. According to The New York Times today, Giuliani plans in the coming days to "offer a forthright affirmation of his support for abortion rights in public forums, television appearances and interviews."
Another questionnaire lists Rudy's pro-choice positions:
Chalk up one more victory for America, as the Senate voted 63-28 to allow lower-priced prescription drugs to be imported from Canada. While the president's advisors are recommending a veto, the bill still stands a shot at passage.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling upholding the federal abortion ban:
With the Senate recently completing their 100th work day, it's worth taking a look at all they have already done to improve the lives of Americans. Unlike the do-nothing Republican Congress they replaced, Democrats have already pursued a positive agenda and gotten things done on ethics reform, minimum wage, energy independence, eduction, health care, homeland security, veterans, and Iraq.
AARP, the nonpartisan membership organization for people over fifty, will begin running radio advertisements in 10 states urging the Senate to pass legislation to allow the federal government to negotiate for lower drug prices.
I've had a few periods of time in my life when I didn't have health insurance. Obviously it's not a party, but sometimes people just don't get how bad it is... If you can afford a doctor, some doctors will...
Recently, Speaker Pelosi released a statement calling for President Bush to support efforts to provide states with the funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
In his latest attempt to save his legacy after six years of failed policies, President Bush went to Chatanooga to discuss health care. Over the last six years of his presidency, President Bush has watched the number of uninsured grow by nearly 6 million, while health care costs are increasing faster than wages.
Smooth talking Mitt Romney is so committed to his campaign to win the Republican presidential nomination by talking his way out of his record that he's even willing to run away from his signature health care plan. While the plan was once considered "the centerpiece of Romney's administration" and "a key part of his presidential resume," Romney "has begun to distance himself" from the plan
Granite State Republicans beware! Today, barely two weeks after Mitt Romney embraced President Bush's proposal for a new health care tax on middle class families, the smooth talking presidential wannabe is touring the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center as part of his effort to charm voters into forgetting his own tax-raising record on health care.
Today, a
New York Times editorial points out that President Bush's new plan to tax working families' health insurance will do little to actually help the 47 million Americans without health insurance or help reduce skyrocketing medical costs. Bush's policies could even increase the number of uninsured if it goes badly which is "not the answer Americans are waiting for and not what they deserve." Democrats remain committed to finding solutions to the challenges facing our health care system, not creating new ones
Today, President Bush pitched his recycled health care scheme at an event in Lee's Summit, Missouri. The proposal, which would increase taxes on middle class Americans, has been soundly discredited by experts and various publications across the country.
Talking about family values, how about making sure kids don't get sick? From ABC: Children living in red states -- those in which a majority of the citizens voted Republican in the 2004 presidential election -- may be worse off...
From the escalation of the war in Iraq to his new health care tax to the energy crisis, Americans were disappointed to again hear more hollow promises and empty proposals that just won't fix the problems. Editorials in newspapers across the country today echoed America's discontent with the President's failed leadership.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement in response to President Bush's State of the Union address this evening
Smooth talking Mitt Romney tonight rushed to embrace President Bush's latest health care scheme, even though it represents a new health care tax for middle class families and will do little to provide health care for more Americans or address the problem of rising health care costs. In a written statement, Romney said he "welcomes" the President's plan, that "states are the best laboratories" for finding health care solutions, and that his state found a way to expand health care "without a tax increase."
In tonight's State of the Union address, President Bush is expected to call for a health insurance tax hike on middle class Americans - a proposal that shows he is not serious about fixing America's broken health care system. In the same year the President will submit a budget making his tax cuts permanent -- tax cuts that went overwhelmingly to the richest Americans -- he is proposing to shift more of the cost of health care onto working Americans. Additionally, the President's proposal actually could impose a new tax on working Americans if they already have a good health care plan, while doing nothing to hold down skyrocketing health care costs.
The ability of the Democrats to win over significant numbers of Republicans on most votes signals the slim but enticing possibility of Democratic mastery over a demoralized Republican Party. If the new bipartisanship takes root, the prospects for health care legislation and immigration reform sharply improve.
Union Leader: [Democrats are] championing a consensus legislative agenda geared toward helping families that have been left behind by the GOP. They're standing up for America's shrinking middle class. Pelosi has pledged to spend her first 100 hours on key bread-and-butter economic issues long neglected under Republican rule.
This is a leader who understands her mandate.
Soon-to-be Speaker Pelosi has outlined her vision for the first 100 hours of a Democratic Congress. Included is a fix to the disastrous Medicare bill passed by the Republicans which prevents the federal government from negotiating lower drug prices for seniors.
A report released by the Campaign for America's Future last July revealed that nearly 7 million beneficiaries with annual drug costs between $2,250 and $5,100 will fall into the 'donut hole' this week," which means that they will be forced to pay the entire cost of their drug coverage between when it falls between those two amounts. CBS News reports that, "it's this gap -- of almost $3,000 -- that many sick and disabled seniors call unaffordable." "'We feel there is something very wrong with the way Medicare Part D is written,' says David Madison, who's taking one very expensive cancer drug. He says he reached the 'doughnut hole' in a month. The total cost of his care, he told us, plus the coverage gap is wiping him out. 'It could eventually lead to bankruptcy,' he says. 'It is catastrophic.'"
Nearly 47 Million Americans Are Uninsured - Increasing for the Fifth Year in a row. The number of Americans lacking health insurance increased by 1.3 million last year -- and by 6.8 million since Bush took office in 2001. Today, a total of 46.6 million people are uninsured -- roughly one in seven Americans. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/29/06; Table HI-4]
The Federal Government recently dispersed $50 million in Medicare prescription plan premium refunds and would like seniors to return the money. About 230,000 seniors received an average refund of $215. Some seniors received the money directly deposited into their accounts....
After delaying approval for years, the Food and Drug Administration has finally approved Plan B for over-the-counter sales to women over the age of 18, something that their own advisory panel recommended a long time ago, but that was left...
This week President Bush spoke on the transparency of the health care system. What he wouldn't talk about was his failure to address the health care crisis in America, the fact that health care costs have gone through the roof, or that one in seven Americans lacks health insurance. Focusing on health care transparency merely reminds the American people just how much health care costs have increased under his watch.
Today, President Bush will speak in Minnesota on the transparency of the health care system.
That's the question on everyone's mind after the FDA suddenly announced they would resume consideration of Plan B this week. From The San Francisco Chronicle: Plan B has come to symbolize what many critics of the Bush administration say is...
Who do you think deserves to benefit? This is what happens when you let Republicans pass a bill that caters to big drug companies instead of America's seniors. Columbia resident Mary Ann Anderson, 81, was caught by surprise even though...
Drug companies will reap "$2 billion or more this year" as "a result of the transfer of millions of low-income people into the new Medicare Part D drug program that went into effect in January."
Bill Frist has proven to be both an ineffective leader in the Senate and out of touch with America's priorities. With his party sinking in the polls and with Americans loosing confidence in the Republican-controlled Congress, Frist has been unable to lead his fellow Republicans, has trouble garnering their support in the Senate and routinely loses political battles.
This week, Florida State Senator Ron Klein delivered the Democratic Radio Address.
With Monday's sign-up deadline looming, President Bush will attend several events designed to sell his failed Medicare prescription drug program. But, despite clear evidence that many seniors have yet to sign up for the prescription drug plan and that many are unaware of the penalties if they miss the May 15th deadline, President Bush and Republicans in Congress refuse to extend the enrollment deadline.
CNN: "The nation's largest beverage distributors have agreed to halt nearly all soda sales to public schools, according to a deal announced Wednesday by the William J. Clinton Foundation."
Today, while as many as 20 states still await reimbursement for the cost of covering prescription drugs, President Bush travels to Iowa and Missouri to pitch his failed Medicare Prescription Drug plan during two different stops at seniors centers and a “Conversation” on Medicare.
President Bush visited Missouri today in attempt to quell concerns that his disastrous Medicare Prescription Drug Plan has failed seniors. The President's failed prescription drug plan has left many seniors across the country and in Missouri vulnerable and confused, because of numerous conflicting plans and a large gap in drug coverage.
President Bush will be in Iowa today attempting to quell concerns that his disastrous Medicare Prescription Drug Plan has failed seniors. The President's failed prescription drug plan has left many seniors across the country and in Iowa vulnerable and confused, because of numerous conflicting plans and a large gap in drug coverage.
