Candidates may only accept donations, of any kind, from individual registered voters, eligible to vote for that candidate.

If you can’t vote, you can’t donate. It’s really that simple.

In political campaigns, money is more akin to a vote than it is to speech.

Corporations can’t vote. Unions can’t vote. Political Parties can’t vote. All the various groups, committees, foundations, think tanks, etc can’t vote. Foreigners can’t vote. Non-citizens can’t vote. Lobbyist can only vote where they are registered and eligible.

With that as a the standard, anything that promotes a candidate would be considered a contribution to the candidate and can only be done, paid for, provided by, a registered voter eligible to vote for the candidate. Individual rights to free speech are protected, playing field is level, and the rules are uniform across the board.

The result of this single one line change would be:

• Lower cost of campaigns
• Less TV, Radio and Print advertising
• Encourage more debates and town halls
• More use of the Internet
• Reduced lobbyist influence
• Improved quality of candidates
• More citizen involvement
• More accountability to voters
• Reduced interference from outsiders
• Increase voter registration and voting

Makes sense. Sounds good. But like a lot of sensible, good ideas, probably won’t happen. Because nobody wants to give up their exception to the rule. The power brokers would lose their power. Control would revert to the people and thats the last thing that anyone vested in the current system wants.

Want to test my theory that this idea will be attacked from all sides? Click the link below to post it to your Twitter status

Candidates may only accept donations, of any kind, from individual registered voters, eligible to vote for that candidate. http://bit.ly/cHOPYV

There is no question that there are naturally occurring climate change cycles. We also know that there have been naturally occurring cataclysmic climatic changes in the history of the world. Whether it’s intense volcanic eruptions or meteor strikes. So we know that it is possible for the atmosphere to be severly impacted by conditions on earth.

So if we take what we know as facts about the climate, it’s reasonable to believe that humans are having an impact on the atmosphere, and that in combination with a natural cycle we are accelerating the changes in severity and speed.

The fossil fuel industry is acting much like the tobacco industry did. I believe they are lying and funding “research” that contradicts the majority of climatologists in an attempt to maintain the status quo while diversifying into other businesses. It doesn’t help that environmentalists have been largely marginalized over the years, which makes it easier to discredit the research in support of human impact on climate change. Of course the recent email flap isn’t helping at all either. I wouldn’t be surprised if the hack job was funded by someone with a stake in discrediting the climate research, particularly since it was so close to the Copenhagen summit.

Bottom line for me is I believe we are contributing significantly to climate change. That we have to wean ourselves from fossil fuels, move quickly to alternative renewable, sustainable sources of energy. I also think we need to find alternatives to other petroleum based products. I don’t know if we can do this fast enough. I don’t know if we can afford it. I don’t know if we can afford not to. Understanding this is just one of many challenges we are facing today, we have to at least put out the effort to do what we can

BILL MOYERS: Why is the industry so powerful on both sides of the aisle?

WENDELL POTTER: Well, money and relationships, ideology. The relationships– an insurance company can hire and does hire many different lobbying firms. And they hire firms that are predominantly Republican and predominantly Democrat. And they do this because they know they need to reach influential members of Congress like Max Baucus. So there are people who used to work for Max Baucus who are in lobbying firms or on the staff of companies like Cigna or the association itself.

BILL MOYERS: Yeah, I just read the other day, in THE WASHINGTON POST, that Max Baucus’s staff met with a group of lobbyists. Two of them had been Baucus’s former chiefs of staff.

WENDELL POTTER: Right.

BILL MOYERS: I mean, they left the government. They go to work for the industry. Now they’re back with an insider status. They get an access, right?

WENDELL POTTER: Oh, they do, they do. And these lobbyists’ ability to raise money for these folks also is very important as well.

Lobbyists, many of the big lobbyists contributed a lot of money themselves. One of the lobbyists for one of the big health insurance company is Heather Podesta, the Podesta Group, and she’s married to Tony Podesta, who’s a brother of John Podesta.

BILL MOYERS: Who used to be the White House chief of staff.

WENDELL POTTER: Right. Right. And they’re Democrats. And my executives wanted to meet with — and when I say my, the people I used to work for–

BILL MOYERS: At Cigna.

WENDELL POTTER: Yeah, wanted to meet with Hillary Clinton, when she was still in the Senate and still a candidate for president. Well, that’s hard to do. That’s hard to pull off, but she did. That just shows you that you can, through the relationships that are formed and that the insurance industry pays for, by hiring these lobbyists, you can your foot in the door. You can get your messages across to these people, in ways that the average American couldn’t possibly.

BILL MOYERS: So it’s money that can buy access to have their arguments heard, right?

WENDELL POTTER: That’s right.

BILL MOYERS: When ordinary citizens cannot be heard.

WENDELL POTTER: Absolutely right. It’s the way the American system has evolved, the political system. But it does offend me, that the vested special interests, who are so profitable and so powerful, are able to influence public policy in the way that they have, and the way that they’ve done over the years. And the insurance industry has been one of the most successful, in beating back any kinds of legislation that would hinder or affect the profitability of the companies.

BILL MOYERS: Why is public insurance, a public option, so fiercely opposed by the industry?

WENDELL POTTER: The industry doesn’t want to have any competitor. In fact, over the course of the last few years, has been shrinking the number of competitors through a lot of acquisitions and mergers. So first of all, they don’t want any more competition period. They certainly don’t want it from a government plan that might be operating more efficiently than they are, that they operate. The Medicare program that we have here is a government-run program that has administrative expenses that are like three percent or so.

BILL MOYERS: Compared to the industry’s–

WENDELL POTTER: They spend about 20 cents of every premium dollar on overhead, which is administrative expense or profit. So they don’t want to compete against a more efficient competitor.

The need for radical reform of our campaign finance and election laws is a recurring theme for this blog. I’ve posted many times about the need to eliminate the undue influence that special interest groups, lobbyists and political action groups have on legislation and policy. This candid interview is a perfect example of the kinds of things that happen routinely at every level of government from all kinds of different groups. None are any better or worse than any other in my view. The only people that should be able to influence our elected officials are the ones that can vote for them. Period. If a group wants to state their case, they can do so publicly at hearings. There is no need or justification for any group to have a private audience with any elected official at any level. (That includes Prevo and our local assembly members and mayor.)

This interview also points out why Health Insurance Reform and Health Care Reform MUST include regulation of the health insurance industry and a public option. The industry can’t and won’t regulate themselves. That is the rightful place for government intervention. They’re not going to change their practices until and unless they are forced to. That means regulation and competition. The government is the only entity capable of competing with the insurance industry.

Everything we are hearing from the obstructionists to reform is part of a well thought out and executed game plan. Down to the very words and phrases that we hear repeated ad nauseum.

During the interview, Bill Moyers read from confidential documents drafted by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) in May and June of 2007. The documents outline a unified strategy for AHIP members to prepare for the release of Michael Moore’s documentary, SICKO on June 29, 2007.

You can download and read the full AHIP documents by clicking here and here (PDFs).

The Language of Health Care 2009 (PDF)
The Frank Luntz memo strategizing opposition to health care reform Bill Moyers mentions in the interview.

GOP Health Care Strategy (PDF)
Strategy memo by Alex Castellanos dated July 7, 2009.

These are evil people who don’t care about the average American. They will do anything to make a buck and to remain, regain, expand their political power. They are lying and manipulating the system to further their selfish goals at the expense of Americans. The sad and disturbing part is that there are so many Americans that sincerely believe that these people and entities actually have our collective best interest at heart. They don’t. In fact they are actively working against our best interests.

Watch the video or read the whole transcript between Bill Moyers and Wendell Potter here.

Read more on Wendell Potter and Profits Before Patients here.

Read the Testimony of Wendell Potter, Philadelphia, PA Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation June 24, 2009 here. Or view it online here.

Trace campaign contributions, ad spending and the revolving door between industry and government here.

We can defeat the lies, the misrepresentation and the willful ignorance of the obstructionists on the right. We can do it by not giving in, not giving up, and shining a bright light on those that are pulling their strings. Now is the time.

The current health care debate in Congress has nothing to do with death panels or public options or socialized medicine. The real debate, the only one that counts, is how much money our blood-sucking insurance, pharmaceutical and for-profit health services are going to be able to siphon off from new health care legislation. The proposed plans rattling around Congress all ensure that the profits for these corporations will increase and the misery for ordinary Americans will be compounded. The corporate state, enabled by both Democrats and Republicans, is yet again cannibalizing the Treasury. It is yet again pushing Americans, especially the poor and the working class, into levels of despair and rage that will continue to fuel the violent, proto-fascist movements leaping up around the edges of American society. And the traditional watchdogs—those in public office, the press and citizens groups—are as useless as the perfumed fops of another era who busied their days with court intrigue at Versailles. Canada never looked so good.

As bad as that sounds, at this point just about ANYTHING would be better than doing nothing at all.

The fact of the matter is that the insurance/pharmaceutical industry and trial lawyers are too invested in the status quo and have put most of the current leadership of congress into office. Change is a scary thing for most people, and the vested interests in the status quo are using that fear to their advantage. They lie, distort, deflect and demean others to protect their greedy self interests.

This is a recurring rant, but until and unless we radically change the manner that political campaigns are financed and elections are conducted we are doomed to have the best government that money can buy.

Right now everyone in DC is most concerned about whether they will get re-elected. Even staff members are worried about if their boss gets re-elected or not, because their job depends on it. In that environment EVERYTHING gets measured by how much something hurts or helps the chances of re-election. For the really ambitious, it gets measured by whether it hurts or helps the possibility of moving up in the political food chain. Moving up could mean higher office, or it could mean a position on a high profile committee. That’s just human nature and believing any differently is simply naive. Re-election depends on contributions, and you don’t stay in office long if you piss off the wrong people. Constituents can be bought off fairly cheaply with some hunks of pork, glad handing, and pandering. Get on the wrong side of deep pockets though and you’re doomed.

So the reality of the situation is we have to gain as much ground as we can in this battle. Understanding that the war is far from over, and any ground taken today may be lost tomorrow. We are battling inertia, and if we quit pushing the rock up hill, it can roll back over the top of us. We have a little momentum on our side, we just have to keep pushing, gaining ground inch by inch, step by step, day by day until we overcome inertia (resistance to change) and momentum takes over.

Let’s not let the fact we aren’t getting everything we want stop us from getting what we can.

So here is the oath of office that the mayor took.

I solemnly swear (affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Alaska and the Charter of the Municipality of Anchorage, and that I will faithfully perform the duties of Mayor to the best of my ability.

Seems pretty simple and straight forward. How is vetoing an ordinance that would protect people from discrimination performing the duties set forth in his oath of office?

The United States Constitution

Amendment 14 – Citizenship Rights.

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Permitting people to be discriminated against based on their sexual orientation would be a classic example of denying those people the equal protection under the law.

The Constitution of the State of Alaska

Article 1 – Declaration of Rights

§ 1. Inherent Rights

This constitution is dedicated to the principles that all persons have a natural right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the enjoyment of the rewards of their own industry; that all persons are equal and entitled to equal rights, opportunities, and protection under the law; and that all persons have corresponding obligations to the people and to the State.

There it is again, “equal protection under the law”. How can we have equal protection under the law when we are free to discriminate against anyone simply because of their sexual orientation.

The Home Rule Charter For The Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska

Article II The Bill Of Rights

(7) The right to opportunities in housing, public accommodations, employment, and education without regard to race, religion, sex, color, national origin, marital status or physical handicap; and the right to an Equal Rights Commission at the municipal level in the aid thereof.

While perhaps not as clear as the US and State Constitutions, the Home Rule Charter in spirit of the law is pretty clear that discrimination in “housing, public accommodations, employment, and education” is generally unacceptable.

When it comes to education the Anchorage School Board policy states:

Appendix A — Statement of Rights and Responsibilities:

Non-Discrimination

This Statement of Rights and Responsibilities will be enforced fairly and uniformly without regard to race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex or gender, sexual orientation, or disability.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Office. ASD Statement of Nondiscrimination

Individual and/or groups are in violation of this policy if they:

* Make demeaning remarks directly or indirectly, such as name-calling, racial slurs or “jokes”; or
* Physically threaten or harm an individual; or
* Display visual or written materials or deface, damage, or destroy property or materials; or
* Perform any other act that is clearly discriminatory or harassing in nature;

because of the person’s race, creed, gender, national origin, age, language spoken, ability, disability, martial status, political or religious beliefs, physical or mental condition, family, social, or cultural background, or sexual orientation.

So apparently government at every level, even in our own Anchorage School District, recognizes the need to protect people from discrimination based on sexual orientation. But in the infinite wisdom of our Mayor he has found “clearly a lack of quantifiable evidence necessitating this ordinance”. Or perhaps this was just the payoff to Prevo and his cult members for their campaign support?

The majority of the Anchorage Assembly, representing the majority of Anchorage residents, voted for the ordinance. The Mayor ignored the obligations he undertook in his oath of office. It is now up to the Assembly to have the courage to do the right thing. Protecting the fundamental rights of every Anchorage resident. Giving them equal protection under the law, and access to the “Equal Rights Commission at the municipal level in the aid thereof.”

From what I’ve been told, only an Assembly member can call for a vote to override the veto. I appreciate those members that supported the ordinance in the past, but now is not the time to quiver in the face of bigotry. Anchorage needs you to stand up and stand tall to what is blatant bigotry. We need to have it on public record who supports the rule of law and equality for everyone. We also have a right to know who supports denying equal rights of some based simply on religious dogma and political expediency.

Anchorage is waiting and watching. We won’t forget when it comes to election time which side you stood with.

It is the policy of the government of the United States to provide equal opportunity in federal employment for all persons, to prohibit discrimination in employment because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, age, sexual orientation or status as a parent, and to promote the full realization of equal employment opportunity through a continuing affirmative program in each executive department and agency. This policy of equal opportunity applies to and must be an integral part of every aspect of personnel policy and practice in the employment, development, advancement, and treatment of civilian employees of the federal government, to the extent permitted by law.

That is the standard we should be trying to emulate and live up to. Not backing away from because we have a mayor in Sullivan that is clearly a bigot and has been unduly influenced by Political Activist Jerry Prevo and his cult of mindless zombies.

Here is what Mr. Sullivan had to say for his veto statement.

On August 11, 2009, the Anchorage Assembly passed AO2009-64(S-2) as amended. I
have reviewed the ordinance, heard the Assembly justifications for and against it, and understand the sentiments expressed during the many hours of public testimony. Since the passage, I have received nearly 2,500 additional communications from Anchorage residents. I thank all of those who took the time to participate in the process.

My review shows that there is clearly a lack of quantifiable evidence necessitating this ordinance. My review also shows that the vast majority of those who communicated their position on the ordinance are in opposition.

As elected officials, we are charged with reflecting the will of the community in our decisions, particularly in the absence of compelling data that would supersede that will.

Therefore, I hereby veto AO2009-64(S-2) as amended.

Note: The mayor’s office does not plan to conduct individual media requests today. Questions will be referred back to the statement.

No quantifiable evidence? How about the hatred and vitriol that opponents of the ordinance spewed hour after hour, day after day of testimony? How about going so far as to bus in people from the Valley to testify? How about the obviously orchestrated tactics approved by the Assembly Chair to allow Prevo to manipulate and abuse the system. You don’t think these people wouldn’t refuse to hire, rent to or give credit to people simply based on their sexual orientation?

Do you think the federal government would have such protections for their employees if there wasn’t a reason to protect people from discrimination by bigots against sexual orientation? He didn’t find any evidence because he didn’t look and doesn’t care. That’s just his excuse for the inexcusable.

Being an elected official isn’t about being popular. It isn’t about appeasing people, like religious fanatics. There was no argument presented against the ordinance that wasn’t rooted in Christian dogma. Last I heard we hadn’t official converted to a theocracy, although it appears Prevo effectively controls the Administration and Assembly Chair Debbie Ossiander. Read the “An Open Letter To Anchorage Assembly Chairwoman, Debbie Ossiander.” For an example of the lies and pressures brought from the ignorant and narrow minded Christian Right. The fact is that it is the governments responsibility to not simply do what is popular, but what is right. Permitting discrimination isn’t right.

Then to add insult to injury, Mr. Sullivan just issues that short written message and refuses to face the people he is sworn to serve to defend his position, or even to answer questions from the press. The man is a gutless worm, that has no respect or compassion for anyone other than those that line his pockets with campaign donations and deliver votes from their pulpit.

However, this is good news for business owners and landlords. Now they are free to discriminate against everybody they don’t like, for whatever reason. All they have to do is say it’s because of their sexual orientation. Doesn’t matter if they are straight or not, whether it’s true or not, they just have to say that’s what they believe.

I encourage business owners and landlords to use this opportunity to rid yourselves of people that you have wanted to, but were afraid to because of the laws against discrimination. See what those people don’t understand is that sexual orientation includes heterosexuals. So you can now be fired, refused to be hired, refused a promotion, refused to be rented to, refuse to be loaned to, for being straight. Our own mayor has effectively said that discrimination based on sexual orientation is fine.

How many heterosexuals will have to be adversely affected before Sullivan and the assembly will feel the pressure to do the right thing. We’ve got three weeks. How many people can we get fired or evicted in that amount of time?

How many people can we get into the Prevo Cult to stand up and call Prevo and all of his followers bigots and unworthy to follow Christ. How many people can we get to show up to picket and write down license numbers of those that attend the cult meetings to see if their employers or landlords want to make them an example of how sexual orientation discrimination feels.

I sent an email testimony to the assembly members during the testimony period. I posted the letter here. Of the four that voted against the ordinance, Coffey, Starr, Birch and Ossiander, only Ossiander replied. She only replied in response to my criticism of allowing outside agitators to abuse the system. I’m debating whether I should post those email exchanges which in my opinion shows that Ossiander was acting in collusion with Prevo to delay the vote by allowing people to continue to sign up to speak after the original hearing and permitting people outside of Anchorage to testify

Here are the email addresses.

Send to entire Assembly. wwmas@muni.org Probably the best way to get to them all.

Assembly Members that voted against the ordinance. Make sure Ossiander brings the override to a vote, even if the numbers don’t change. I want to be there when they vote and look me in the eye when they say my daughter is less human, less deserving, less worthy of protection from bigots. We especially need to target Ossiander.
Debbie Ossiander ossiander@gci.net
Bill Starr starrwe@muni.org
Dan Coffey dancoffey@gci.net
Chris Birch chrisbirch@gci.net

Assembly Members that voted for the ordinance. Thank them for their prior support and ask for their continued support by forcing an override vote.

Elvi Gray-Jackson gray-jacksone@muni.org
Sheila Selkregg sheilaselkregg@alaska.com
Mike Gutierrez gutierrezm@muni.org
Jennifer Johnston jjohnston@gci.net
Patrick Flynn flynnpp@muni.org
Matt Clayman mattclaman@gmail.com
Harriet Drummond harrietdrummond@alaska.com

Share any responses you get below. I’ll be adding more information about upcoming protests and other activities to bring pressure to bare on the assembly to override the veto.

This isn’t my vision of what America should be. Is it yours?

From July 24-26, I attended the RAM event at the Wise County Fairgrounds in Wise, Virginia. The area is in the Appalachian Mountain region bordering Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina.

People received numbers and started lining up to enter the health clinic around 4 a.m.

For those who did not receive the full range of health care they needed, they spent the night in their cars and returned the next day.

2. Campaign contributions restricted to individuals eligible to vote for the candidate. No cash or in kind contributions from ineligible to vote individuals or any entity including businesses, organizations, political action committees or political parties.

We live in a Constitutional republic.

A constitutional republic is a state where the head of state and other officials are elected as representatives of the people, and must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the government’s power over citizens. In a constitutional republic, executive, legislative, and judicial powers are separated into distinct branches and the will of the majority of the population is tempered by protections for individual rights so that no individual or group has absolute power. The fact that a constitution exists that limits the government’s power makes the state constitutional. That the head(s) of state and other officials are chosen by election, rather than inheriting their positions, and that their decisions are subject to judicial review makes a state republican.

Nowhere in our Constitutions are there any mentions of political parties, special interest groups, political action committees or any other subset of individuals. It’s government and individuals. The rest is just BS that has evolved over time. Things like the two party system or primary elections, just happened in response to a vacuum left by the absence of enough individuals engaged in the system.

So it’s time for us to re-assert our proper place at the TOP of the organization chart, not the bottom. First thing first our representatives are, our individual representatives. My neighbors shouldn’t get to choose my dinner if they aren’t eating with me. My neighbors shouldn’t be able to influence the election of my representative if they can’t vote for my representative.

Anything that gets between the people and our government is an enemy of the people and our government. That includes, first and foremost, the Democratic and Republican parties. Simply because of their shear size and how intertwined they are throughout all levels of government. Oh, and no other party is any better or worse.

The cool thing, we don’t even need a law to make this happen. We just need enough of us to agree, and refuse to vote for anyone who is a member of any political party or has accepted/will accept donations of any kind from anyone/anything that can’t vote for them. Since independent voters outnumber both declared democrats or republicans this seems like a doable thing to me.

We already have near-universal health coverage in the form of Medicare, Medicaid, veterans’ hospitals, emergency rooms and tax-deductible employer-provided health care — all government creations.

Medicare for the elderly and disabled. Medicaid for the indigent. Veteran hospitals for service connected injuries and indigent veterans. Emergency rooms overloaded with non-emergencies by people who don’t have insurance, or who have insurance but won’t pay for doctor visits (which drives up the costs for all of us). Tax deductions that still don’t help small businesses, their employees and the self employed obtain affordable health insurance for themselves and their families. Even the most conservative estimates put the uninsured at over 30 million, yeah, that sounds like “near-universal health coverage”. That doesn’t even factor in the number of under-insured that have huge deductibles or only hospitalization coverage. As the economy worsens, the unemployment rises, and along with it the number of uninsured continues to grow.

Now the Democrats want to force us all into one gigantic national health insurance plan that will cover every real and mythical ailment that has a powerful lobby. But if you have a rare medical condition without a lobbying arm, you’ll be out of luck.

Nobody is being “forced” into anything. If you have insurance and you like it, then stay with it. What is it about “option” in the term “Public OPTION” that Ms. Coulter and others don’t understand? Who are two of the most powerful lobby’s in D.C.? The pharmaceutical and insurance industries. Who is spending hundreds of millions of ill gotten gains on stopping health care reform? You guessed it, those two very powerful industries. One has to wonder if Ms. Coulter has a speaking gig lined up with those groups at their next gathering. I hear the pay is significant.

Third-party payer schemes are always a disaster — less service for twice the price! If you want good service at a good price, be sure to be the one holding the credit card. Under “universal health care,” no one but government bureaucrats will be allowed to hold the credit card.

So it’s better to have private insurance companies make the decision for what doctor you can see, where, and when? It’s better to have private insurance companies dictate what procedures they will pay for, how much and to who? Insurance companies make money by not providing service. They make money by taking our money, investing it to make even larger profits while they delay or refuse to pay all together. They are betting we won’t get sick enough to need health care, and if we do need it they are betting we’ll die before they have to pay too much. Yeah free enterprise. The U.S. Government is the only entity large enough to provide competition to challenge the insurance industry to provide better service and protection for their clients. If the private insurance companies are so great, then only a small minority will select the public option.

Last week, Republican Senator Jim DeMint made it pretty clear why the opponents of health care reform are fighting so hard. As he told a special interest attack group, “If we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.” Here’s how the President responded:

Think about that. This isn’t about me. This isn’t about politics. This is about a health care system that is breaking America’s families, breaking America’s businesses and breaking America’s economy. And we can’t afford the politics of delay and defeat when it comes to health care. Not this time, not now. There are too many lives and livelihoods at stake.

With Congress only days away from finalizing their plans for reform, it’s time to stand with the President and fight back against this disastrous brand of old-style politics. So we need as many people as possible to publicly support the President’s principles for health care reform and call on Congress to act.

Before the first full votes in Congress, we’ll publish the signatures in newspaper ads across the nation, to make sure your voice is heard.

Watch President Obama’s full response, then add your name to support reform.

Or if you’ve already signed, please forward this message to all your friends and neighbors so they can join you.

Sign the declaration

The President is more dedicated than ever to passing health care reform that satisfies the three requirements he’s been talking about for months: Health care reform must reduce costs, guarantee choice — including the choice of a strong public insurance option — and ensure all Americans have quality, affordable health care.

If we do not reform our broken health care system this year, we will shackle future generations with spiraling costs and deteriorating care. The cost of inaction is simply more than this country can afford.

But the special interests who profit from the status quo won’t go down without a fight. The ads, the smears, and the attacks — targeting both President Obama and members of Congress who support reform — will only get worse. So it’s crucial that we show huge backing before Congress finalizes their plans this month.

Stand with President Obama on health care reform:

http://my.barackobama.com/hcdeclare