They Won't Put Kids First, But We Will!

[Guest Sen. John Kerry]

Dear Citizen,

 

This is personal. As I traveled across the country last year, I learned a lot about the dreams, hopes, fears and frustrations of the American people. Nothing touched me more than the parents I met who feared that illness would strike a child who is uninsured.

 

A sick child is always a worry. A sick child that you can't get help for is a parent's worst nightmare. Helping the 11 million children who have no health coverage isn't even on the radar screen of the Bush administration and the Republican leaders in Congress. But, we're going to put it there.

 

It is totally unacceptable that, in the greatest country in the world, millions of children are not getting the health care they need. That's why this week I introduced the Kids Come First Act. Help me push through the Republicans' political roadblocks and take care of the 11 million children without health insurance.

 

Please co-sponsor my Kids Come First Act by clicking here:

 

http://www.johnkerry.com/KidsFirst

 

The Republican leadership will try to prevent this essential legislation from ever seeing the light of day. Help me gather one million co-signers for the Kids Come First Act, and we'll force them to act or to admit that they just don't care enough to act. Here's why it's so important to do something now:

 

1/4 of children are not fully up to date on their basic immunizations.

1/3 with chronic asthma do not get a prescription for medications they need.

1/2 of uninsured children have not had a well child visit in the past year.

1 in 6 has delayed or unmet medical needs.

1 in 5 has trouble accessing health care.

1 in 4 does not see a dentist annually.

1 in 3 had no health insurance during 2002 and 2003.

In the Senate, I am working hard to convince my colleagues to co-sponsor this vitally important bill. But, the most important co-sponsors - the ones who can help push this legislation through a Republican Congress and the Bush White House - are the hundreds of thousands of grassroots activists in the johnkerry.com community. If you haven't done so already, please sign our Kids Come First petition and forward it to your family, friends, and neighbors:

 

http://www.johnkerry.com/KidsFirst

 

To date, nearly 300,000 Americans have signed our Kids Come First petition. Our goal is to top 500,000 before President Bush makes his State of the Union Address on February 2nd. We'll build from there until we stand one million strong. We've got to put getting our children the health care they need at the top of our national agenda. It won't be easy, but we will never relent until we find a way to make sure Kids Come First.

 

The Bush administration wants to ignore the fact that children without health care translates into needless pain and suffering for millions of American families. But you and I won't let those children be ignored any longer.

 

Making sure that Kids Come First is the right thing to do. What's more, it makes no economic sense to leave millions of American children uninsured. Immunizations, annual visits to a pediatrician, dental care, and screening for vision, hearing, and developmental problems are all long-term money savers for the health care system as a whole.

 

And investing now in the health of our children is truly what is key to saving our Social Security system and the long-term financial solvency issues facing Medicare. The health and productivity of the next generation's workforce is what will contribute most to saving these systems, not whether or not we privatize accounts or means test the benefits.

 

I hope you will take a moment to review this essential proposal -- and I hope you will act to encourage everyone you know to sign our Kids Come First petition now.

 

As you read this, President Bush is on a health care swing through Ohio. In the midst of photo ops and canned speeches, he is offering no genuine solution to the fact that 11 million American children have no health insurance. You and I must work to provide the ideas and leadership that are missing from the White House and the Republican leaders of Congress. And we have to work day in and day out to mobilize America to cover every child.

 

Thanks for standing with me in this essential undertaking.

 

Sincerely,

 

John Kerry

 

P.S. You can read a summary of the Kids Come First Act here:

http://www.johnkerry.com/petition/billsummary.php

[Guest Human]

I actually think that it is a good Idea "To the Friends of Kerry who posted it".

 

Then you'll said that "The Republican leadership will try to prevent this essential legislation from ever seeing the light of day".

 

When you said that, then you got me thinking ( now why would the republicans oppose it? why? that got my brain cells clicking. You see " to the friends of kerry" once you injected politics into the post it got me to think "okay!!!! what am I not being told??????".

 

Now you know that I am going to go look for the answer. So I got the Answer, and here it is----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washingt...l_children?pg=2

 

 

Although Kerry said he plans to introduce a version of his broader plan later in the Senate term, he is initially seeking only to guarantee coverage for children.

 

''We've got to find a starting place to find a common ground," Kerry said.

 

Under current law, states are required to provide health insurance through Medicaid to children up to age 18 whose family incomes put them at or below the federal poverty line -- now, earning $15,670 annually for a family of three. The federal government picks up about 57 percent of the cost on average. (For children up to age 6, the family income limit is higher. And many states, including Massachusetts, also choose to insure older children who are above the poverty line.)

 

Kerry's plan would encourage states to cover children up to age 21 whose family incomes are too high for them to be currently eligible. The federal government would pay two-thirds of the costs of covering children in families with incomes of up to three times the poverty line.

 

As an additional incentive, those states also would receive full federal funding for Medicaid coverage for children in the state who are at or below the poverty line. For children from families at up to three times the poverty level, the states would have roughly two-thirds of their costs matched by the federal government.

 

Kerry said the increased federal aid would save states $10 billion annually, and predicted that all state governments would jump on board for the savings, providing coverage to 11 million children who are now uninsured. The expanded coverage would be paid for by rolling back the recent income tax cuts for those who make more than $350,000 a year, to pay for the bill's estimated cost of $22 billion per year.

[Guest LightUpTheDarkness.org]

Heaven forbid we should roll back some tax cuts on the wealthy to give assistance to working families who could then really put some money into the economy. Reaganomics didn't work in the 80's and it isn't working now. When we lift people up from the bottom, that money goes straight into the economy. It worked in the 90's, and the 60's before that when we had a very good minimum wage that accomplished the same thing. The proof is in the pudding.

 

 

[Guest Human]

"lightupthedarkness", I am sure that a Compromise will be reached, unless he "kerry" takes the extreme viewpoint, and is just merely using this as a public relations ploy.

[Guest paul d]

I encourage ALL Americans to sign on as "co-sponsors" of this thoughtful and creative bill that will provide insurance to every child in America!!!

 

Join the fight!!!!!!

 

http://www.johnkerry.com/petition/kidsfirs....php?source=502

[Guest Roman]

Didn't Kerry shoot a 14 year old boy in the back in Viet Nam?

 

 

So much for the children.

 

 

 

 

Liberals are hypocrites.

[Luke_Wilbur]

Roman,

Can you tell us the story of Senator Kerry killing a 14 year old boy in the back in Viet Nam?

 

Is there truth to it. What were the charges?