Health Care For America Now

The Chamber of Commerce has turned into a money-laundering front group. They were paid between $10 and $20 million from the insurance companies to run smear advertisements against health care reform. These ads were up heavy in swing states and districts, so much so that the average television viewer saw these ads two or three times a day if they lived in a targeted area.

All the while, the insurance companies pretended they were in favor of health reform. By laundering money through the Chamber of Commerce, they were allowed to continue their immense lobbying campaign against reform without the negative publicity and accusations of bringing back Harry and Louise they would have faced if they had been honest with the public and Congress about their true position.

All in all, the Chamber spent $123 million on lobbying in 2009, double what they spend in 2008, and most of it likely insurance industry money.

Today, health care supporters in Washington, DC stood up and said they've had enough of the corporate influence in Washington. $123 million of insurance industry blood money can't stop Congress from finishing health care reform, finishing it right, and finishing it now.

Here's what went down in front of the Chamber of Commerce in DC today, directly across from the White House:

Hundreds of people rallied in Farragut Park, next to the Chamber of Commerce, and got ready to march:

From there, we marched over to the Chamber, sending a clear message:

A ton of influential activists joined us. Ben Jealous, head of the NAACP was there. Bob Edgar of Common Cause was there. Leaders from national unions like UFCW, SEIU, and AFSCME were there. And community group leaders like CCC, CAF, USAction were there.

A couple creative advocates were there as well. Regina Holliday, an artist and medical advocate, brought along her paints to do live street art:

And Edward Kimmel, the famous public option man who took the fight to the teabaggers, was there as well with his trademark sign:

But people were really there for the courageous supporters who've had their lives turned upside down by the insurance industry who were brought in for this event. People like Stacie Ritter, who's twin daughters were denied care by Cigna, forcing her family into bankruptcy:

Or people like Kelly Arellanes, an AT&T worker from Arkansas, was in a coma for three weeks after a 2004 horseback riding accident. Kelly and her husband David had to pay more than $200,000 in medical bills when Kelly’s emergency surgery was not covered by UnitedHealthcare.

Or Angel Romero Kiester, from Nebraska, comes from a family with a history of cancer where all her female relatives have had their reproductive organs removed at younger ages than she. Because she is uninsured and cannot keep up with screenings for cancerous cysts and ovarian problems, she fears a terminal diagnosis could put her life at risk.

Or Rev. Keith Mayes, from Tennessee, has accrued almost $175,000 in medical debt since his wife got ill and began treatment for a muscular disorder. The family had health insurance through Mrs. Mayes' job as an insurance claims adjuster, but the health insurance would only cover 14 days of her 91 days in intensive care.

These people risked arrest today and blockaded the door to the Chamber of Commerce to stop their lobbying:

The insurance industry cannot spend hundreds of million of laundered money fighting health care reform and get away with it. People are dying in this country without health care. They're going bankrupt. They're losing their houses and their businesses and their jobs. We need health care reform and we need it done right.

Congress, we voted for change in 2008. If the corporate lobbyists win, we lose. You must deliver on that change now. We can't wait.