Below is the text of the letter from Senator Edward M. Kennedy referenced by the President in tonight’s address to a Joint Session of Congress.
May 12, 2009
Dear Mr. President,
I wanted to write a few final words to you to express my gratitude for your repeated personal kindnesses to me – and one last time, to salute your leadership in giving our country back its future and its truth.
On a personal level, you and Michelle reached out to Vicki, to our family and me in so many different ways. You helped to make these difficult months a happy time in my life.
You also made it a time of hope for me and for our country.
According to an Associated Press-GfK poll released today, President Barack Obama’s disapproval for his handling of healthcare policy reform is up to 52%.
“The survey of 1,001 adults with cell and landline telephones was conducted from Sept. 3-8. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.” – Yahoo! News
Read the story here and read the questions posed to respondents here.
President Barack Obama will talk about healthcare when he addresses a joint session of Congress tonight. The speech will air at 5pm, Pacific Time Zone, on all major networks and online.
This is a comparatively rare event. Presidents have only spoken to a joint session of Congress 47 times outside of State of the Union addresses.
Laying the groundwork for the speech, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said yesterday in a radio address, “President Obama will make the case for what is at stake for the American people in this debate, and he’ll provide a clear direction for what a true reform plan is: a plan that will bring stability and security to Americans who have insurance, and help those who don’t get coverage they can afford. He’ll discuss what health insurance reform means – and what it doesn’t mean – for all Americans.”
There are five committees working on healthcare reform bills in the House and Senate. The House tri-committee bill is known as H.R. 3200, which has been quoted regularly and conservatives falsely claimed included the now infamous “Death Panels.”
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee wrote a reform bill too, but in the Senate, all eyes are on Senator Max Baucus’ Finance Committee, which has yet to release their more bi-partisan effort.
Sebelius said, “We’re entering a new phase in this important debate. Now is the time to begin pulling together the bills that have been written and the solutions that have been proposed to create a final product that reforms our health insurance system and offers families the security and stability they need.”
Thus far, the President has acted as the marketing arm of the healthcare policy reform movement in Washington, D.C. The President does not have a healthcare reform bill of his own, just a set of principles on which he believes healthcare reform should be based. His role has been shepherding bills in the House and Senate and guiding the national conversation.
Lately, both national and local opinion leaders have even called on the President to present his own bill and take charge of the debate again. Tonight, he will not announce another bill, but he will be putting more of his political capital on the line for healthcare reform.
On Thursday evening at Westlake Park in Seattle, around 3000 energetic people participated in a rally supporting healthcare insurance reform.
Many battled Seahawks traffic to make it to the event in downtown Seattle.
Reverend Lesley Braxton led the crowd in a moment of silence for the late Senator Ted Kennedy and United States Congressman Jim McDermott spoke to many of his Seattle constituents.
Congressman McDermott said, “I’m sure it must make [Kennedy’s] heart feel good to see that the dream has not died. It is our dream to have health insurance that can never be taken away. I’ll do my part in the Congress, but he and I need you to keep showing up and making people aware.”
Though many “teabaggers” were to attend and disrupt the event, their numbers were comparatively negligible.
For more photos of the rally, visit healthcareWA on Facebook and click the Photos tab.
Organizing for America hosted about 60 healthcare insurance reform supporters Tuesday afternoon in Everett.
The event was held to present staff from the office of Congressman Rick Larsen with a list of over 3000 signatures supporting the principles of President Barack Obama’s healthcare insurance reform movement. Many at the event were disappointed, having expected to see Congressman Larsen at the event himself.
The event seemed targeted to motive supporters rather than have a discussion or change minds.
Organizing for America’s Washington State Director, Dustin Lambo, said, “Let’s get it done. Let’s pass health insurance reform now.”
Later, in a remark akin to what Democrats have called Republican scare tactics, Lambo said, “We don’t have time to wait. Your mom doesn’t have time to wait.”
Speaking about Republicans, Bill Phillips, Chair of the Snohomish County Democrats, said the same people that have been cutting Medicare for 15 years are the ones saying it’s going bankrupt.
On Sunday, Senator Maria Cantwell appeared on “State of the Union with John King” and discussed Medicare reimbursements and bending the healthcare cost curve.
I just love it when she says:
“Well, you’re not going to get an argument about bending the cost curve from me because my state almost subsidizes the rest of the healthcare system because we’re so efficient and the rest of the country delivers more inefficient care.”
Yesterday Congressman Jim McDermott participated in an online question and answer session on healthcare policy reform. Read the conversation here from the Seattle Times.
As we continue to reflect on the role Sen. Ted Kennedy had on healthcare and indeed the country, this eulogy he gave for his brother, Robert Kennedy, is well worth a watch. It is a good reminder of what he, Ted Kennedy, meant to America as a political figure in a period of upheaval. He was the only brother left. And he carried on.
Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers has been on the healthcare town hall circuit in Eastern Washington the last few weeks.
I do believe we need to reform health care, as I said during this interview on Spokane Forum with Harv Clark to be broadcast this Sunday. You can hear the entire interview on these stations at these times.
KISC/98.1 FM at 6:30 a.m.
KKZX/98.9 FM at 6:00 a.m.
KCDA/103.1 FM at 6:00 a.m.
KIXZ/96.1 FM at 6:00 a.m.
KPTQ/1280 AM at 6:00 a.m.
KQNT/590 AM at 6:00 a.m.
Listen to the Congresswoman talk about healthcare reform here.
Senator Murray has posted a statement on the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy, which comes across as warm, sincere, and reflective of Kennedy’s impact on his colleagues.
“(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) issued the following statement on the passing of U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA). Senator Murray served with Senator Kennedy for 16 years in the U.S. Senate, including many years as a senior member of Kennedy’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
”When I was young Ted Kennedy was larger than life. I could not believe it when I first walked out on the floor of the Senate and he walked over to welcome me. From that day on, he became a valued friend, a courageous partner, and a personal mentor.
“From my earliest memories in the Senate when I watched him patiently and passionately argue to pass the Family and Medical Leave Act, to his last moments when he led the charge to pass legislation that guaranteed equal pay for women and encouraged Americans to serve and give back to their country as he did, Ted never once stopped fighting for those who couldn’t fight for themselves. The country is indeed a better place because of him.
“His loss is very personal to me. I will miss him. Our country will miss him.
“My thoughts and prayers, and those of all Americans, are with his family at this difficult time.”
