Will He Cry for Us?
January 13, 2011
In a recent interview Speaker of the House John Boehner cried while talking about a recent visit to a school he made. “Making sure that these kids have a chance at the American dream, like I did,” he said choking back tears, “it’s important.”
Look – we don’t have anything against crying. We cry all the time. Our health care system is devastating. We ask Speaker Boehner, what could protect a chance at the American dream any more clearly than access to healthcare? Kids and parents who have gone, are going or will go broke, have suffered or even perished without a shot are now under his watch. We know the new law doesn’t go far enough, but we have a solution: Medicare for All – expanded and improved.
So today we start tracking our stories and our dead. We cry for them. Will John Boehner?
Join this campaign by telling John Boehner what makes you cry.
A Capitol Police Officer oversees us deliver 2,100 letters to Rep. John Boehner asking him not to cut Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security.
Thanks to all of our supporters, over 2,100 people signed our petition asking Speaker of the House John Boehner not to cut or privatize Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security.
Many of you shared your personal stories with the Speaker in the hopes that he will take those who are uninsured, underinsured, and/or living in poverty into consideration before he calls for cuts to our social insurance programs.
As promised, on June 7th we–a handful of members of Healthcare-NOW!, Progressive Democrats of America, Physicians for a National Health Program, and the Grey Panthers–delivered a stack of all 2,100 signatures and letters to John Boehner’s office. We asked to meet with the Speaker, but he was unavailable. Then we asked to meet with his health legislative aide, but he/she wasn’t available either.
So we asked to read your letters aloud in his office until the Speaker was available to meet with us. Before we finished reading the first letter, the Capitol Police arrived and asked us to leave. We handed the stack of letters for John Boehner to his receptionist and then were immediately escorted from the office. The police locked the door behind us as we left.
Determined to have our stories heard, we continued reading your letters in the hallway in front of John Boehner’s office. We posted photos from our visit to John Boehner’s office here. And Alison McLeod, RN, BSN created a great video of the visit below.
Here’s Alison’s account of the visit:
“In D.C., I had the honor of participating in (and videotaping) an action at Speaker of the House John Boehner’s office. Katie Robbins of Healthcare-Now collected hundreds of testimonials from people who have suffered under the present profit –driven system – and will suffer more if Medicare and Medicaid are further defunded and privatized. These stories made us cry, and since John Boehner has a tendency for weepiness, we each came armed with a box of Kleenex. Boehner wasn’t there, and his aide called the security guards, so we had to read the testimonials in the hall.
But we left behind the stories – and the Kleenex.”
Alison McLeod, RN, BSN
Southern Arizona Field Organizer
Progressive Democrats of America
A Few Hours of Hope
March 22, 2011
Dear Speaker Boehner:
Medicaid is the only payer of services for the Developmentally Disabled. They pay for people like my daughter who is severely impaired to get out into the community and sit with others for just a few hours rather than be kept at home isolated and hopeless like many disabled people in the 1950′s.
Read the rest of this entry »
Boehner Calls for Cuts to Social Security and Medicare
March 3, 2011
Speaker John Boehner is continuing to call for cuts to Social Security and Medicare despite its overwhelming opposition by the vast majority of Americans.
Here he is on Fox News on March 2, 2011.
Dear Speaker Boehner:
My story’s so common I’d say everybody can relate.
Up until I turned 18 all my bills were covered by whatever means my mother could get for me. Most of my life she had been in debt because of a loan or a credit card. With help, we managed to rescue her from the debts that effected her daily life.
Now that I’m 23, I’m starting to miss all that health care which I never had to directly worry about before.
Read the rest of this entry »
What a Difficult Undertaking During this Sad Time
March 2, 2011
Dear Speaker Boehner:
Shortly after my 54 year old sister’s husband lost his battle with cancer, she had to tackle finding new health insurance for herself. What a difficult undertaking during this sad time.
She first was almost denied coverage because she was underweight (after caring for her dying husband for two years). She squeaked past that hurdle but then she WAS denied a new policy (with her previous insurer) because of a “pre-existing condition” — a tiny malignant tumor in her finger which was successfully treated years ago.
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Will Marry for Health Insurance
February 15, 2011
Terri is not your ordinary underinsured individual. She has gone to great lengths to help her fellow frustrated citizens find ways of getting access in our flawed healthcare system. From starting her initial website WillMarryForHealthInsurance.com to help her find coverage for a rare genetic immune disorder, she is now an “accidental activist” for the movement for universal healthcare.
John Boehner On Entitlement Cuts: ‘Everything Is On The Table’
February 15, 2011
By Elise Foly for Huffington Post –
WASHINGTON — House Republicans remain divided on whether their upcoming budget for fiscal year 2012 will include cuts to government entitlement programs, but Speaker John Boehner suggested Tuesday that reductions in Social Security and Medicare funding were indeed possible.
“Republicans will not punt,” Boehner (R-Ohio) said at a press conference on Tuesday. “Everything is on the table.”
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I don’t think I’ll survive until the health reform fully kicks in
February 9, 2011
Dear John Boehner:
I’ve been unemployed for seven months. I’m receiving EIGHTY dollars per week in unemployment compensation and am NOT ELIGIBLE for food-stamps because I made the mistake of going back to school, briefly, but had to quit due to illness. In Georgia, any recent school enrollment is an disqualifier, that or a drug felony.
I have no health insurance and am living with a debilitating disease which might be easily cured but the charity-service hospital won’t perform the surgery. And I don’t think I’ll survive until 2014 when the health reform finally fully kicks in.
Read the rest of this entry »
I never go to the doctor because I can’t afford it
February 9, 2011
Dear John Boehner:
My father had bone cancer in 2004. He is still paying off the bills for a disease that he had no control over and could have done nothing to prevent, and he had to file for bankruptcy as a result.
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