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June 24th, 2009 Edition
What’s Happening this Week?
Historic Agreement Reached with Big Pharma and Momentum Behind Push for
Health Care Reform. On Monday President Obama
announced an agreement with the nation’s biggest pharmaceutical companies
that would save Medicare recipients $80 billion in
prescription drug costs and close the donut hole in Medicare Part B. The
announcement with Big Pharma this week was the latest of several
agreements reached between the Obama Administration and a
diverse set of health care stakeholders – including insurance companies,
doctors, hospitals and medical device manufacturers –
that would result in significant reductions in health care costs, one of
President Obama’s top goals for any reform plan.
House to Vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act on Friday. This
Friday the House is expected to vote on the American
Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES, also known as Waxman-Markey), historic
legislation that seeks to transform the way we produce
and use energy in America. The bill represents the next step toward a comprehensive
energy plan that will break our dependence on foreign oil, create millions of
good green jobs and reduce climate-change causing
greenhouse gas emissions.
President Obama Signs Landmark Tobacco Legislation into Law. The
Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act will do
more to do more to protect our children from the dangers of tobacco products
and improve our public health than any law in a
generation.
Supreme Court Upholds Key Protection of the Voting Rights Act. This
week the Supreme Court issued a near unanimous decision
(8 to 1) to uphold a central provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The
provision seeks to prevent discriminatory voting changes
by requiring all or parts of 16 states to get approval from the Department of
Justice before changing the way elections are conducted.
DNC Hosts First Change Commission Meeting. The Democratic National
Committee’s Democratic Change Commission will hold its first meeting this
Saturday, June 27 at 9:30 a.m. at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC.
The Commission will discuss their rules of procedure, the history of the
modern-day Democratic presidential nominating and
delegate selection process, and the interests and goals of the party,
candidates, and voters in the selection of a Democratic
presidential nominee. Speakers at the meeting will include DNC Chairman Tim
Kaine as well as Congressman James E. Clyburn and Senator
Claire McCaskill, co-chairs of the Democratic Change Commission.
Talking Points: Inaction Not an Option on
Health Care Reform
• Today, President Obama met with a bipartisan group of governors who
shared some stories of families and small businesses in
their states who are struggling under our health care system.
• The stories are a reminder of why health care reform is so important,
and they’re the best possible response to defenders of
the status quo.
• What these governors – and the families and businesses they represent
– are seeing all across their states is that our
current system is unacceptable and unsustainable.
• Over the past nine years, premiums have doubled – rising at twice the
rate of wages.
• Small business owners have been forced to choose between staying afloat
and providing health care for their employees.
• And health care spending now consumes 50% more of state and local
budgets than it did 20 years ago – leaving less money
for things like schools and public safety, while creating pressure to raise
taxes.
• The same is true for the entire country. Health care costs are the
number one driver of our long-term deficits, which is why reforming our system
is the single most important thing we can do for the long-term fiscal health
of our country.
• Here's the bottom line: inaction is not an option.
• President Obama knows that many Americans like their health care the way
it is. He has promised if you like your plan you can keep
your plan; and if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor.
• The President has said that in order to preserve what’s best about our
system, we have to fix what’s broken. If we don’t
take steps to contain skyrocketing costs, everyone's insurance will be in
jeopardy. Premiums will continue to rise, benefits will
erode, and the number of uninsured Americans will increase.
• We must eliminate waste and inefficiency, and build a system that not
only covers everyone, but provides better quality care at
a lower cost.
Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
www.democrats.org. This communication is
not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
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