While the Bush adminstration uses every means at its disposal to rubber-stamp its policies and quash fact-finding and healthy discussion, it is not the time to disappear. Rather, we need to stand up for our values, American values of freedom, liberty, honesty, compassion, accountability, and fairness. No, Democrats and liberals, and progressives – and all the faithful who are religious in the deepest and truest sense – aren’t going away.

The Bush administration is bankrupting our country – the national debt ceiling has just been raised again to over 8 trillion dollars. With one paydown of this debt, such as the one Clinton made, the savings in interest alone would pay for Social Security for years to come. Evidence upon evidence piles up – how long can the country be in denial of what is being done here? On eof the ways Bush intends to “pay for” more tax benefits to the wealthy is by cutting the tax benefit to businesses who provide health insurance to their workers. What values are these? Take from the poor and give to the rich doesn’t seem very Christian to me.

The values of greed are not our values. The modus operandi of the Bush administration couldn’t be more clear: tell lies and repeat lies until they seem like truths, co-opt the press, eliminate dissent and discussion, operate under secrecy, pretend to go along with popular legislation but then cut the funding later – or simply refuse to fund it, and so on. The government of, by and for the people is only as good as the people. You’ve been kept busy, distracted, fearful – but please at least pay attention and connect a few dots – it’s the duty of every citizen to do so – and if you won’t do that, then don’t vote. Democracy works only when its citizens are informed.

Normally, when a senator introduces a bill, he/she approaches other senators to co-sponsor the bill. Senator John Kerry has instead requested that we all co-sponsor this bill. The first bill that Kerry will introduce in January addresses the health insurance issue. It’s a start – and I suspect this point was chosen simply because it will be the most difficult to block or argue against. I would rather see the serious fraud and corruption in the medical industry addressed, or the absolutely obscene price increases that drug companies and insurance companies have been able to snag addressed, or the refusal of the Bush administration to allow generic drugs for the treatment of AIDs, or any of 20-30 other serious issues about healthcare addressed first. But I guess you have to start somewhere, and it’s going to be pretty hard for King Bush to just up and say “let them eat cake” like Marie Antoinette.

It is a truly shameful reality that in one of the most wealthy nations on the planet, we have more than 8 million uninsured children. He asks you to cosponsor this bill by signing on. Many so-called “red states” are nearly half “blue” – the fact is, there are more people who realize that a major set of problems have come into being with the Bush administration than not. With every purge, with every cabinet position, and with every appointment to the judicial branch of government it only becomes more obvious. Please be part of the solution.

Sign on here – and while you’re there, you can look at videos and interviews. No-one has gone away, and there is a lot of work to be done to try to halt the self-destruction of our country. Don’t let your children blame you for what you didn’t do. Every little bit helps.

A Health Care Plan for Every Child:

Every parent knows the fear of waking up to the cries of a sick baby or a child with an ear infection that will not go away. As parents, we both remember the countless times we called that first pediatrician to get answers to every last question.
But far too many parents have another fear, on top of their child’s health. They worry that a sick child means financial ruin. There are more than eight million uninsured children in our nation. These children are less likely to get a routine checkup, or to get treatment for common ailments like asthma. They miss more days of school. It is a disgrace that eight million children lack health insurance in the richest nation on earth.

Our plan starts by providing health insurance for every child in America. Under the Kerry plan, the federal government will pay the full costs for the 20 million children in the Medicaid program. In return, we will ask states to expand coverage to children in families with higher incomes than are currently eligible, as well as low-income adults. This plan will expand coverage to millions of people and provide much needed relief for states that are struggling under persistent growing budgetary pressures.

The plan will also simplify the health care system so we can prevent children from falling through the cracks. Right now, there are millions of kids who are eligible for federal/state health insurance programs but are not signed up.

There are lots of reasons — sometimes the enrollment forms require the skills of an accountant to figure out. Some states make parents sign up every six months in person, making it virtually impossible for a parent who cannot get time off or afford to lose a whole day of work. Some parents do not even know these programs are available.

Under our plan, kids will be signed up automatically at hospitals, community health centers, and schools. And $5 billion in enrollment bonuses will be available to states as an incentive to find uninsured children and keep them covered. Children do not choose their parents. They do not choose whether to have health insurance. Children deserve a good start—with both high quality education and health care. Under our plan, every child in America will have health insurance, and every parent will have a little more peace of mind.

Sign on to co-sponsor this bill – show your support!