This weekend during John Edwards' trip to New Hampshire he spoke with voters and answered questions on a wide range of topics - everything from the recent vote on Iran to his detailed plans on how to overhaul No Child Left Behind.
There was one topic, however, that really stood out. With the threat of President Bush's veto of the recently passed S-CHIP legislation hanging in the air, health care was a hot topic. Over and over again voters asked the question, "Why do we, the richest country in the world, not have the universal health care we need?" This weekend at New Hampshire town halls and house parties across the state John addressed this issue and explained exactly why so many Americans are still without health care - because Bush and his GOP cronies sold Americans' health care to drug company and health insurance lobbyists.
Since 1998, drug company lobbyists have spent over $1.2 billion on lobbying. In 2004, Bush and the Republican leaders of the Medicare Part D Prescription drug plan took over $14 million from drug company lobbyists. The drug companies and the health care industry spent this money because they expected something in return. They knew what they were doing. Thanks to the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plan, insurance companies got a new funding formula that causes taxpayers to overpay private HMOs to deliver benefits that the government could do for 12% cheaper. If we maintain this funding formula the government will overpay private HMOs $149 billion over the next decade. This legislation was tailored for the big pharmaceutical insurance companies, rather than the people who should have mattered most - the Americans in need of affordable health care.
This weekend, John told it like it is. He said that when he was in the Senate he saw the evolution of the Medicare Part D Prescription drug plan and he knows who wrote that legislation - the drug companies. John was there trying, with other Democratic leaders, to stop the passage of the Medicare Part D Prescription drug plan but Bush and his cronies sold our health insurance to drug company lobbyists.
You could tell there was an overriding anger in the room when John spoke about this - about how our own government, our own elected representatives, have completely sold out - at the cost of our health and well-being. So I decided to ask people, what would you do for a couple million, or say 14 million dollars?
We know what Bush and the politicians who take money from drug company lobbyists did, but what would your average New Hampshire voter do? Not to give it away, but it turns out Washington politicians have a drastically different set of values than your average New Hampshire voter at a John Edwards town hall meeting.
After the events this weekend and talking to New Hampshire voters I decided to take the next step and ask supporters to help us spread this message about money in Washington and John's plan to provide universal health care. Right now, there are 1,100 drug company lobbyists in Washington D.C. If we want to change the way Washington works and take back the White House, we need to drown out money from corporate interests with voices for change. For every one of those 1,100 lobbyists in D.C. we need one volunteer shift to spread John's message for universal health care. Can you join us and take the 1,100 New Hampshire challenge?
