News Release

CAF Warns The President: Don't Raise Medicare's Eligibility Age

Liz Rose — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:29:15 -0400

Washington, DC – In advance of President Obama’s speech on deficit reduction, reported to be scheduled for Monday, a White House spokeswoman said on Thursday that the President’s plan will not include ‘changes to Social Security’. But rumors persist that President Obama may embrace the idea of raising the age of Medicare eligibility, an idea he put on the table in his negotiations with Republicans during the debt ceiling debacle. Campaign for America’s Future’s co-director Roger Hickey said that the President should reject the idea of forcing people to wait longer for Medicare – and he should instead put forward other proposals designed to reduce health care costs in the whole.

The Campaign for America’s Future is asking supporters to contact the White House and tell the President to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. As the missive to the White House makes clear, we want America’s most vulnerable Americans who need access to affordable health care, to be able to depend on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. In order to save on health care costs, look to the drug and insurance company profits rather than taking a slice from Americans.

Statement from Roger Hickey, co-director of Campaign for America’s Future:

“The report that Social Security is not going to be on the chopping block is welcome news – especially since Social Security contributes nothing to America’s deficits.

“However, if the President again proposes raising the age of Medicare eligibility on Monday, he would be making a huge mistake, and such a policy would harm America’s most vulnerable citizens. Medicare is a target for deficit cutters because many of them never liked the program; however they claim they want to change the eligibility age because health care costs are skyrocketing. The solution is instituting policies that control overall health costs: hit the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies, not low income and sick Americans. We can't afford to let profiteers from the pharmaceutical and insurance industries make millions off of taxpayers any longer. The President should propose letting Medicare use its buying power to negotiate discount prices with the drug companies.

“I commend the President for heeding the advice he received in the thousands of letters and phone calls and emails from Americans of all ages asking him to protect Social Security, the program that allows millions of Americans a safe and secure retirement. He should listen to the public on Medicare.”

Outcome of NY Election Shows Dems Win Defending Medicare,

Liz Rose — Wed, 25 May 2011 12:04:35 -0400

Washington, DC -- Roger Hickey, Co-Director of the Campaign for America’s Future, issued the following comments after Democrat Kathy Hochul’s victory in New York’s special election, and about the upcoming Senate vote on the House Republican (Ryan) budget.

Hickey said, “Democrat Kathy Hochul won the predominately Republican seat in New York after the voters learned of Republicans’ deeply unpopular plans to gut Medicare. It’s easy to blame Rep. Paul Ryan and his Scrooge-inspired budget plan, but voters will not forget all of the other Republicans who voted for it. Senators should vote against the Republican House budget because the American Majority clearly wants them to focus on taxing the wealthy and cutting the military budget and not on deficit reduction. The outcome of the NY election demonstrates that the public reject cuts to Medicare, a program that promises peace of mind in retirement for Americans who pay into it their whole lives.”

Campaign for America’s Future’s TheMiddleClass.org will be grading Senators on their vote on the Republican budget proposal, which Hickey called “a defining vote.”

Hickey also warned Democrats that if they want to be credible to voters, they should also declare their commitment to defending Social Security and Medicaid. After listening to President Bill Clinton speak at the Peterson Institute Summit today, Hickey said, “Democrats could still blow their advantage if they agree to cuts to the other crucial programs: Social Security, and Medicaid. Noting that some Democrats have called for raising the Social Security retirement age or big cuts to Medicaid, he said, “It’s not just Republicans who need to listen to the lessons learned in New York’s special election: Americans want also their leaders to consistently fight for Social Security and health programs -- for their own retirement and for future generations.”

Hickey praised President Barack Obama for thus far, keeping Medicare and Social Security off of the budget chopping block.

The American Majority supports Medicare, in fact: more than 80% of seniors say Medicare is central to their retirement security. Over 80% of Americans oppose the Republican plan to gut Medicare. But they also oppose cuts to Social Security and Medicaid.

The Republican budget would immediately drive up the cost of prescription drugs and annual checkups for America's seniors, and double their out-of-pocket health care costs in the future.

Senate Republicans have collected more than $20 million in campaign contributions from the insurance industry -- the same special interests that have spent almost $100 million since the new law passed trying to get rid of it. Last year, the biggest insurance companies enjoyed almost $12 billion in profits.

Report: Banking Industry Targets Dem Senators To Kill College Loan Provisions In Health Care Bill – and Perhaps Health Reform

Isaiah J. Poole — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:03:12 -0400

While insurance industry lobbyists hoping to kill health care reform are shifting their attention to the Senate in the wake of House passage of health reform, Wall Street and bank lobbyists have opened a second front that could harm health reform in an effort to kill the provisions in the health care reconciliation bill that would cut banks out of the student loan business.

Six Democratic senators have already publicly written Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to express their concerns about passing direct lending through reconciliation. In a report released today, the Campaign for America’s Future details the lobby connections and financial contributions that helped “shape” their opinion. The report, entitled "Money-Changers in the Senate," written by Kevin Connor, explains how former staff aides of the dissenting Democratic senators were enlisted, along with campaign contributions and Astroturf independent expenditures, to enlist Democratic allies in the effort to stop direct lending.

In the blizzard of amendments promised by Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, one focus will be seeking to strip direct lending from the bill. With Republicans united in opposition and six Democratic senators expressing doubts, the financial lobby could have a big impact on the upcoming Senate vote.

“This report details how the banking lobby, led by Sallie Mae, has wielded money and lobbyists, including former Democratic staffers, to try to sustain the billions they make in peddling government guaranteed student loans,” reported Robert Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future. “Now with the historic victory in the House, citizens must mobilize to frustrate the lobby’s clout and insure that direct lending is passed, along with the health care fixes.”

The direct lending provision would use the money saved from wasteful subsidies to the banks to help families pay for college education. Instead of subsidizing bank profits, it will increase Pell scholarship grants for low-income students, invest in community colleges and historically black colleges, and allow graduates to cap their student loan payments at 10 percent of income.

“Just as health care reform mobilized fierce industry resistance, student loan reform has triggered a massive lobby campaign by the banking lobby,” said Borosage. “Now, ironically, the lobby is claiming that Democrats are taking money from students to help pay for health care, when in fact the bill takes money from unjustifiable banking subsidies and helps families pay for college education. Senators should understand that their votes on this matter will be watched just as closely as their votes on health care.”

The full report is posted at ourfuture.org/moneychangers. Click here to read the full report.

DELAURO, CONSUMERS UNION TO URGE SENATE TO REQUIRE HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES TO MAKE COST AND COVERAGE INFORMATION PUBLIC

Toby Chaudhuri — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:29:27 -0500

WASHINGTON – As President Obama’s signature health care bill moves in the Senate, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., will join Institute for America’s Future health care project director Diane Archer, Georgetown University research professor Karen Pollitz and Consumers Union senior policy analyst Bill Vaughan to urge insurance companies to disclose information about the prices they charge and the care they cover that they are now keeping secret.

Participants on the call will share copies of letters signed by dozens of health care experts to Senate Finance Committee leaders, urging that this transparency be included in legislation to protect consumers and enable regulators to oversee and enforce rules included in the sweeping House bill (H.R. 3962) that passed last month.

HEALTH INSURANCE TRANSPARENCY

NEWS CONFERENCE CALL

DATE: Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009

TIME: 12 p.m. ET

CALL-IN: 888-378-0342, code 6524755

PARTICIPANTS:

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.

Diane Archer, health care project director, Institute for America’s Future

Karen Pollitz, research professor, Georgetown University Health Policy Institute

Bill Vaughan, senior policy analyst, Consumers Union

Copies of the letters can be found at the links below

Institute for America's Future and Health Experts
http://www.ourfuture.org/files/IAF_Transparency_Letter.pdf

Consumers Union
http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2009/12/more_transparency_needed_in...

Health Access
http://www.ourfuture.org/files/Rukavina_letter.pdf

National Physicians Alliance
http://www.ourfuture.org/files/NPA_Transparancy_Letter.pdf

PROGRESSIVE GROUP AT FOREFRONT OF FIGHT TO FIX THE NATION’S HEALTH CARE SYSTEM EMBRACES HOUSE REFORM BILL

Jennifer Ettinger — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:01:18 -0500

Historic health care overhaul legislation Democratic leaders predict will pass in the House on Saturday marks a “momentous step toward making a guarantee of quality health care a reality for all Americans,” according to Campaign for America’s Future health care project director Diane Archer who declared her organization’s strong public support for the bill today.

Democratic leaders predict that they will have the 218 votes needed to pass the sweeping bill that President Obama has made his top domestic priority. The “Affordable Health Care for America Act of 2009” (H.R. 3962) would extend coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and ban insurance companies from turning people away because of pre-existing conditions.

STATEMENT OF DIANE ARCHER AND ROGER HICKEY
CAMPAIGN FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE

The Campaign for America's Future declares our strong public support for the "Affordable Health Care for America Act of 2009" (H.R. 3962).

While we would’ve preferred stronger provisions in some key areas, this legislation constitutes a momentous step toward making a guarantee of quality affordable health care a reality for all Americans. And we hope that it serves as a model for action by the Senate.

The bill calls for shared responsibility by individuals, employers and government. It retains and strengthens employer-sponsored insurance, which currently provides the majority of Americans under the age of 65 with health coverage. It provides progressive financing and promotes good health policy by requiring employers to share responsibility for health care costs and the wealthiest one percent of Americans to pay their fair share instead of taxing health care benefits.

The Campaign for America’s Future is particularly supportive of the provisions in the bill that make health insurance and health care services more affordable, and those that make health insurance companies more accountable.

The inclusion of premium assistance, reduced cost-sharing, an annual out-of-pocket limit and comprehensive benefit packages, will help ensure that low- and middle-income individuals and families with health insurance will no longer have to file for bankruptcy when they have a medical crisis.

In addition, the inclusion of a public health insurance option will increase competition and set a benchmark for transparency and efficiency that will help lower the current unsustainable health care cost curve. Stronger federal regulations, including repealing the antitrust exemption for health insurers, as well as complementary federal oversight and enforcement of insurance regulations, will also assist in keeping insurance companies competitive and more responsive to the needs of their members over those of Wall Street.

Netroots Nation 2009 Straw Poll Results

Toby Chaudhuri — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:22:23 -0400

PITTSBURGH, PA. – Progressive bloggers and activists are focused on pushing comprehensive health care reform this year and overwhelmingly support Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., over Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., for the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nomination, according to a straw poll at this year’s Netroots Nation convention conducted by the Campaign for America’s Future and Democracy Corps.

Sixty percent of respondents said overhauling the nation’s health care system is one of their top two priorities. Fifty-three percent said they will not support a health care bill that does not include a public insurance option. Passing clean energy and environmental protection measures came in second with 22 percent.

President Clinton, former Gov. Howard Dean and White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett all spoke this week at this year’s convention, which attracted more than 1,500 progressive bloggers and activists. Sen. Specter and Rep. Sestak both addressed the convention on Friday. Sen. Specter, who did not support a public health insurance option before, told the audience he supports it now.

In a match-up between the two candidates vying for the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nomination, neither candidate reached 50 percent. A third remained undecided while 48 percent choose Rep. Sestak and 10 percent choose Sen. Specter. Rep Sestak was viewed more positively with a favorability rating of 46 compared to 15 for Sen. Specter.

President Obama received a 95 percent approval rating among the group. Not surprisingly, Sarah Palin was extremely unpopular with participants. Only 1 percent of attendees rated Palin favorably while 88 percent rated her unfavorably. Thirty-six percent rated Palin as the easiest Republican presidential nominee to defeat in 2012, followed by former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., who was rated as easiest to beat by 20 percent, and Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., who was the choice of 12 percent.

This year’s convention marked the second year that Campaign for America’s Future and Democracy Corps conducted a straw poll at the Netroots Nation bloggers convention. More than 250 attendees participated in this year’s straw poll between Thursday, Aug. 13 and Friday, Aug. 14.

# # #

**NOTE: An electronic copy of the straw poll results are available online at http://www.ourfuture.org/fact-sheets-briefs/2009083314/netroots-nation-straw-poll-health-care-no-1-issue.**

HOUSE HEALTH REFORM BILL WOULD DELIVER ON PRESIDENT OBAMA’S VISION, SAYS CAMPAIGN FOR AMERICA’S FUTURE

Nathan Maton-Parkinson — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:37:33 -0400

WASHINGTON – Campaign for America’s Future health care project director Diane Archer today praised the House for introducing a health reform bill that delivers on President Obama’s vision. Archer declared that America's Affordable Health Choices Act is designed to control costs and deliver quality affordable health care to all. She said the bill, if passed without serious changes, can accomplish these goals.

STATEMENT OF DIANE ARCHER

The House bill makes it possible to achieve quality, affordable health care for all.

We’re determined to make sure that the House bill sets the standard for achieving necessary change. We urge the House to pass this bill and encourage members of the Senate to emulate its key provisions. We must reject efforts by conservatives to erode or weaken its key elements.

The House bill would strengthen employer-based insurance and allow people to keep what they have if they like it, while giving people without employer coverage the choice between public and private insurance plans.

It would create a national public health insurance plan option to compete on a level playing field with private insurers, reining in costs and delivering better value.

It would create a national insurance exchange with both private and public plan options to give everyone access to affordable, reliable and comprehensive health care coverage.

And it would help people with low incomes afford health insurance.

# # #

**NOTE: Campaign for America’s Future health project director Diane Archer and Campaign for America’s Future co-director Roger Hickey are available to discuss the House and Senate health bills. To schedule an interview, please contact Jennifer Ettinger at jettinger@ourfuture.org or 202-587-1614.**

PROMINENT HEALTH EXPERTS WHO SUPPORT PUBLIC INSURANCE OPTION AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW

Jennifer Ettinger — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:17:14 -0400

As the health reform debate heats up in Congress, the Institute for America’s Future today released the names of prominent health care experts and economists available for analysis and interviews. All the experts favor a public health insurance option to compete with private plans, but they are good sources on all developing issues related to the health care debate.

“Conservatives and health industry forces are putting forward their experts to attack the public insurance option,” said Diane Archer, director of the Institute for America’s Future Health Care Project. “We want to make sure the media has ready access to experts who see the public insurance option as critical to health reform and cost control. These experts don’t agree on everything, but they have helped shape key elements of reform – the public option, affordability, universal coverage, regulation of insurance companies and equal access to good benefits.”

Institute for America’s Future co-director Roger Hickey said that many of the 33 health experts listed recently published work directly relevant to the current health care debate, citing the following examples: Jacob Hacker, the first to put the public insurance option on the agenda, has an article about what America would look like without it in The New Republic. The Urban Institute’s John Holahan and Linda Blumberg released a new report on how a public insurance plan would increase competition and lower costs. The Economic Policy Institute’s Elise Gould wrote a new paper on the drawbacks of taxing public insurance. Hickey has an oped in Sunday’s New York Times opposing taxing health benefits.

A searchable list of experts, complete with photos, biographies and contact information is available at www.ourfuture.org/healthexperts. Experts available to the media include:

--Gerard Anderson, Ph.D., director, Center for Hospital Finance and Management and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 410-955-3241, ganderso@jhsph.edu

--Diane Archer, director, Institute for America’s Future Health Care Project, 212-866-0908, darcher@ourfuture.org

--Valerie Arkoosh, MD, MPH, president-elect, National Physicians Alliance, 215-694-0885, valerie.arkoosh@npalliance.net

--Dean Baker, co-director, Center for Economic and Policy Research, 202-293-5380 x114, baker@cepr.net

--David Balto, senior fellow, Center for American Progress, 202-789-5424, dbalto@americanprogress.org

--Robert Berenson, M.D., senior fellow, Urban Institute, 202-833-7200, rberenson@urban.org

--Linda Bergthold, consultant, Stanford University, 831-462-1334, lbergthold@sbcglobal.net

--Josh Bivens, economist, Economic Policy Institute, 202-755-8810, news@epi.org

--Sam Blair, director, Main Street Alliance, 603-831-1835, sblair@mainstreetalliance.org

--Linda Blumberg, Ph.D., senior fellow, The Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center, 202-261-5769, lblumberg@urban.org

--E. Richard Brown, Ph.D., director, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, erbrown@ucla.edu

--Lisa Dubay, associate professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 410-502-0985, ldubay@jhsph.edu

--Elise Gould, director of Health Policy Research, Economic Policy Institute, 202-755-8810, news@epi.org

--Thomas Greaney, director, Center for Health Law Studies and law professor at St. Louis University; greanetl@slu.edu

--Jacob Hacker, professor, Yale University, 914-372-2225, Jacob.hacker@yale.edu

--Roger Hickey, co-director, Institute for America’s Future, 202-587-1604, hickey@ourfuture.org

--John Holahan, director, The Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center, 202-261-5666, jholahan@urban.org

--Ken Jacobs, chair, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment and UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, 510-643-2621, kjacobs9@berkeley.edu

--Timothy Jost, law professor, Washington and Lee University School of Law, 540-458-8510, jostt@wlu.edu

--Richard Kirsch, national campaign manager, Health Care for America Now, 202-454-6196, rkirsch@healthcareforamericanow.org

--Maggie Mahar, fellow, The Century Foundation, 202-293-5380 x114, healthbeat@tcf.org

--Ted Marmor, professor, Yale School of Management and adjunct professor at Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government, 203-432-3238, Theodore.marmor@yale.edu

--Jim Morone, professor of Political Science and Urban Studies, Brown University, 401-863-1573, james_morone@brown.edu

--Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, president, Doctors for America and instructor, Harvard Medical School, 786-245-4550, vivekmurthy@post.harvard.edu

--Jonathan Oberlander, assistant professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 919-843-8269, oberland@med.unc.edu

--Frank Pasquale, law professor, Seton Hall University, 973-642-8485, pasquafa@shu.edu

--Harold Pollack, associate professor, University of Chicago School of Social Service, 708-275-6841, haroldpollack@gmail.com

--Karen Pollitz, project director, Health Policy Institute, Georgetown University, 202-687-3003, pollitzk@georgetown.edu

--Robert Reich, professor, Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley, 510-642-0560, rreich@berkeley.edu

--Mark Schlessinger, Ph.D., professor, Yale School of Public Health, 203-785-4619, mark.schlesinger@yale.edu

--Jeanne Silver-Isenstadt, MD, Ph.D., executive director, National Physicians Alliance, 703-254-8972, jean@npalliance.org

--Judith Stein, executive director, Center for Medicare Advocacy, 860-456-7790, jstein@medicareadvocacy.org

--Joseph White, Ph.D., director, Center for Policy Studies and professor at Case Western Reserve University, 216-368-2426, jxw87@case.edu

# # #

**NOTE: A searchable list of experts, complete with expert photos, biographies and contact information is available at http://ourfuture.org/healthexperts.**

“AMERICA’S FUTURE NOW” STRAW POLL: PROGRESSIVES SEE HEALTH CARE REFORM WITH PUBLIC OPTION AS TOP PRIORITY

Toby Chaudhuri — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:08:12 -0400

WASHINGTON – Progressives gathered at this week’s “America’s Future Now” conference found a lot to like in President Obama’s first 100 days, but they are very focused on health care reform as their highest priority, according to a straw poll of participants conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for the Campaign for America’s Future and Democracy Corps. Pollster Stan Greenberg joined Campaign for America’s Future co-director Robert Borosage at the closing session of the three-day conference today to release the poll results.

Forty-three percent of conference-goers said health care reform should be the president’s top priority, with all the other issue responses in the teens or lower. And while participants strongly support the president and his priorities, 63 percent said they will not support a health care plan without a public health insurance option, even if that is the only way to get the plan passed.

Fixing the nation’s broken health care system is the focus of an $82 million push by progressive groups announced earlier this week at the “America’s Future Now” conference. The combined effort is the largest national progressive issue campaign in history, one that was lacking when President Clinton’s health care proposals were defeated by the health care industry and conservative groups 15 years ago.

The straw poll also showed that while two thirds of conference attendees -- 66 percent -- favor congressional investigations into how the Bush Administration handled terrorist suspects, an even stronger majority -- 81 percent -- would like to see Congress investigate the fraud and excesses of Wall Street that led to the financial crisis.

Not surprisingly, Rush Limbaugh is incredibly unpopular with “America’s Future Now” conference participants. Greenberg said Limbaugh’s favorability rating -- with only 3 percent of participants rating him favorably -- represents the lowest personal rating of any poll he has conducted.

The straw poll also surveyed the popularity of key media figures. Jon Stewart bested Stephen Colbert in the favorability battery, with 83 percent of attendees rating Stewart favorably compared to 79 percent who did so for Colbert. Rachel Maddow was viewed more favorably than Keith Olbermann, with 70 and 68 percent rating Maddow and Olbermann warmly respectively.

# # #

**NOTE: Media representatives interested in detailed straw poll results should visit www.ourfuture.org or www.democracycorps.com. Slides are available upon request. **

PROGRESSIVE GROUPS TO SPEND MORE THAN $82 MILLION TO ENSURE REAL HEALTH CARE REFORM PASSES THIS YEAR

Toby Chaudhuri — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:14:14 -0400

WASHINGTON – Progressive groups are poised to spend more than $82 million to support President Obama's goal of achieving quality, affordable health care for all this year, according to leaders gathered today at the “America’s Future Now” conference in Washington.

Participants in the effort include the Health Care for America Now campaign; the two main labor federations, the AFL-CIO and Change To Win; as well as MoveOn.org, Democracy for America and mobilization groups representing people of color, women and young people. The various organizations serve different functions, with the bulk of the spending financing advertising and grassroots organizing on- and off-line across the country.

The collective effort involves the more than 1,000 organizations that are part of Health Care for America Now, representing over 30 million members committed to winning a guarantee of quality, affordable health care for all this year. It is the largest national progressive issue campaign in history, one that was lacking when President Clinton’s health care proposals were defeated by the health care industry and conservative groups more than a decade ago.

Gov. Howard Dean, who recently became chairman of the board of the Progressive Book Club, joined organizers to announce details on Monday at a news conference sponsored by the Campaign for America’s Future. Gov. Dean said the progress made over the last several years and the election of President Obama are just the beginning.

“Over the past few years, we have worked together to build a progressive infrastructure and a movement that helped to elect President Obama and begin to undo the damage of the last eight years. But it was just the beginning,” said Gov. Dean. “As the health care reform debate makes clear, America needs a strong progressive movement, now is not the time to become complacent.”

Campaign for America’s Future co-director Robert Borosage said that while conservatives are increasingly splintered and isolated, progressive groups are coordinating their efforts and mobilizing independently to fight special interests standing in the way of President Obama’s bold agenda.

“While the conservative coalition has collapsed, progressives have continued to build and expand,” said Borosage. “We are both more unified and better mobilized than ever.”

Health Care for America Now national campaign manager Richard Kirsch said his coalition launched last summer across the country with the notion that 2009 was going to be the year the nation could finally achieve quality, affordable health care for all.

“We knew we couldn't win health care reform in 2008, but we knew we could lose it if we didn't lay the groundwork for the very moment we're in right now,” said Kirsch. “We have the momentum for real change, and with the commitment of the president and Democratic leadership in Congress, we know we can be stronger and louder than the special interests who make money off the status quo and would have any reform continue to put their profits before people's health.”

The effort comes at a time when Americans hold progressive positions on an increasingly broad range of controversial issues, according to a recent study from the Pew Research Center. Also, key constituencies that favor progressives are growing larger, according to a report released last week by the Campaign for America’s Future and Media Matters for America. As a result, progressives are seizing their greatest opportunity for change in a generation.

Change to Win chair Anna Burger introduced results from a new survey conducted by pollster Celinda Lake at today's news conference. The poll conducted for Change to Win shows that working people want government to invest in health care, good jobs and educational opportunity.

Burger said that most Americans blame corporate greed and its stranglehold on government for the decline of the American Dream. Working Americans reject the right-wing view and want positive government action on renewing the American Dream.

"Working Americans are looking for economic security, including jobs that pay a living wage, a secure retirement and opportunity for the next generation to succeed," said Burger.

"Comprehensive health care reform lies at the heart of the American Dream, and without it, the Dream is unobtainable. We're organizing on all fronts to make this a dream a reality for all of America's workers."

# # #

News Release

CAF Warns The President: Don't Raise Medicare's Eligibility Age

Outcome of NY Election Shows Dems Win Defending Medicare,

Report: Banking Industry Targets Dem Senators To Kill College Loan Provisions In Health Care Bill – and Perhaps Health Reform

DELAURO, CONSUMERS UNION TO URGE SENATE TO REQUIRE HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES TO MAKE COST AND COVERAGE INFORMATION PUBLIC

PROGRESSIVE GROUP AT FOREFRONT OF FIGHT TO FIX THE NATION’S HEALTH CARE SYSTEM EMBRACES HOUSE REFORM BILL

**Netroots Nation 2009 Straw Poll Results**

HOUSE HEALTH REFORM BILL WOULD DELIVER ON PRESIDENT OBAMA’S VISION, SAYS CAMPAIGN FOR AMERICA’S FUTURE

PROMINENT HEALTH EXPERTS WHO SUPPORT PUBLIC INSURANCE OPTION AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW

“AMERICA’S FUTURE NOW” STRAW POLL: PROGRESSIVES SEE HEALTH CARE REFORM WITH PUBLIC OPTION AS TOP PRIORITY

PROGRESSIVE GROUPS TO SPEND MORE THAN $82 MILLION TO ENSURE REAL HEALTH CARE REFORM PASSES THIS YEAR

Netroots Nation 2009 Straw Poll Results