Washington, D.C. – Health Care for America Now (HCAN), the nationwide coalition that led the successful fight for health reform, released the following statement from HCAN Executive Director Ethan Rome on President Obama's announced support for the Wyden-Brown proposal to give states earlier choices in how they implement the Affordable Care Act:

“After governors around the country asked for more flexibility, the president has responded with a proposal that accelerates when states can innovate with ways to implement the new health care law, provided they meet or exceed the same standards for high-quality, affordable care. The law has always recognized that the best way to expand and improve coverage is for states to implement reform in ways that are smart, efficient and work best for them without falling short of the health care law’s important quality and coverage benchmarks.

“Since the Affordable Care Act became the law of the land a year ago, Republicans in Congress and in some statehouses have been trying to undermine it. The law eliminates the worst health insurance company abuses and frees families, seniors and small businesses from crushing health care costs and devastating denials of care. The President’s proposal gives states more flexibility to achieve these goals.”

by Ethan Rome - Executive Director, Health Care for America Now

With the stalemate over his partisan over-reach in its 14th day, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is now wildly violating the most basic principle of governing: If you want to solve a problem, take the deal that gives you what you need, don't hold out for everything you want.

The workers have already agreed to pension and health care concessions. That's what Walker has said he needs. But he also wants to deny Wisconsin's public service employees their freedom to have a voice at work. The workers rightly have said they won't negotiate over their right to negotiate. Walker doesn't need that to solve the state's budget deficit.

The problem is that Scott just can't let go - and he's going too far. He insists on putting the interests of his billionaire backers like the Koch Brothers ahead of growing the economy and addressing the financial insecurity of America's working and middle-class families.

People in Wisconsin and across the country are fighting back with extraordinary intensity and resolve. More than 100,000 turned out in Madison to protest this weekend. Hundreds of thousands of people rallied from New York to Los Angeles, in every state capitol and most major cities to support Wisconsin's teachers, correction officers, firefighters, nurses, administrative assistants, sanitation workers, social workers and so many others. The 14 Democratic state senators who have courageously blocked proposed legislative action on the governor's proposal continue to stand firm in the face of daily threats. This is an organic and inspired national movement demanding an end to the attacks on America's middle class - and for good reason.

If Walker and the Republican extremists get their way, it will tear the fabric of our society and destroy the American Dream. They want to shrink the middle class instead of creating jobs to secure and strengthen our communities. They want to take money out of the pockets of working families and deny small businesses the customers they need to survive. They want to cut taxes for corporations and the super rich instead of helping middle-class families educate their children and make ends meet. Walker and the Republicans like him want to give even more power and wealth to the CEOs of the insurance companies, the banks and other big corporations that don't care about anything except making excessive profits at our expense.

Exhibit A: Buried in Walker's bill to strip public employees of their rights is a provision that would allow the state to sell or contract out management of state-owned power plants without the standard competitive bidding that saves taxpayers money and protects against political corruption. And who might benefit from this special interest legislation? The energy company owned by the billionaire Koch brothers.

Gov. Walker has a fine model for reckless, partisan behavior in Speaker of the House John Boehner. Boehner and the House Republicans are serving two masters: the corporate lobbyists in Washington and the extremist Tea Party Republicans who don't seem to care what damage they do to this country in the pursuit of their partisan goals. The Republican continuing resolution is a case in point. What they cut is as telling as what they don't in these times of "shared sacrifice." The Republicans don't roll back tax cuts for the very wealthy and tax breaks for big corporations like the oil companies.

Instead the Republicans make draconian cuts that hurt the elderly and families and do nothing to create jobs. They cut student loans for working and middle-class parents trying to send their kids to college, do away with Meals on Wheels for elderly shut-ins, and lay off food-safety inspectors. The Republicans reduce the number of law enforcement officers, whack K-12 education, and kick low-income pre-schoolers out of Head Start.

The Republicans' spending plan also defunds the Affordable Care Act, which eliminates the worst health insurance company abuses and frees families, seniors and small businesses from crushing health care costs and devastating denials of care. The GOP attacks health services for women by defunding Title X and Planned Parenthood.

The Republican spending plan will even slow economic growth, according to independent experts. That means fewer jobs, not more. Now the Republicans are proposing a short-term funding extension that is just as bad as what they've proposed for the rest of the year. It is designed to create an impasse with the Senate and could force a government shutdown if they don't reach agreement by March 4.

Walker has created a crisis in Wisconsin by his extremism, and Boehner is willing to shut down the federal government over his. I know they're both more interested in pleasing the corporate lobbyists than the people they were elected to represent, but Walker and Boehner have really gone too far.

Ethan Rome - Executive Director, Health Care for America Now

Gov. Scott Walker's attack on Wisconsin's middle class and his plan to take away the rights of public service workers is wrong. It's certainly wrong for the governor to work for corporate special interests like the infamous Koch brothers instead of the people of Wisconsin. And his threat Tuesday of "dire consequences" was disingenuous and irresponsible, especially since his draconian attack on the freedom of employees to have a voice at work has nothing to do with balancing the state's budget.

It's time for the governor to stop fighting with public employees, put aside his partisan agenda and help Wisconsin move forward. The governor should work with the unions and both political parties and remember that this is not about winning a fight - it's about getting things done.

In Indiana, for example, that's what Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels has decided to do. Ideologically, Daniels and Walker are kindred spirits, and the Indiana governor is no friend of workers. But Daniels decided this is not the right time to declare war on workers. According to the Indianapolis Star, Daniels signaled Tuesday that "Republicans should drop the right-to-work bill that has brought the Indiana House to a standstill for two days and imperiled other measures."

Wisconsin's governor has created an unnecessary impasse. Gov. Walker has driven 14 Democratic state senators into hiding because it's the only way they can force a pause in the legislative process. He is staring out his office window at unprecedented protests by thousands of Wisconsinites from all walks of life. Recent polls show the public is not on his side. Everyone understands that Gov. Walker's claims about the state budget are a pretext to take away peoples' rights and shrink Wisconsin's middle class. This is no way to lead a state. The governor should work across party lines to solve this problem so Wisconsin lawmakers can move on to other issues - including the budget for the coming fiscal year.

The governor could end this crisis if he's willing to work with the unions and both political parties. As we all know, this crisis is not about the money and never was. To the extent that Wisconsin has a budget deficit, it is a problem of the governor's own making, thanks to tax breaks he just gave to corporations. The workers have already agreed to Gov. Walker's requests for concessions on pension and health care. But the governor won't budge - he continues to put his ideological agenda ahead of the people of Wisconsin. That's just plain wrong and makes little sense as a practical matter.

The governor is needlessly alienating Wisconsin's workers. I understand why the governor attacked his own work force of public-service employees in his first six weeks in office. Taking away collective-bargaining rights from all workers is an important agenda item for the big corporations and the extremists in his own political party. But this plan has backfired. The middle-class families of his state are turning against the governor. Of course people are angry. Giving tax breaks to corporations and the super rich while taking away the rights, income and benefits of middle-class families isn't fair. No state can afford this kind of strife when budget crises make "shared sacrifice" the phrase of the day. Shared means shared.

Gov. Walker should move Wisconsin forward instead of pursuing his partisan political agenda. There's no room for political games in a fragile economy. There are tough problems to solve, and that can't happen when politicians are playing politics with people's lives. Politicians like Gov. Walker shouldn't be declaring war on the middle class to appease their corporate backers. They should not talk about making "tough" decisions to reduce the standard of living for working families at the same time they increase the wealth of billionaires like the Koch brothers.

A right-wing corporate cabal funded by the Kochs is applying growing pressure on Walker and all Republicans to attack unions. Tomorrow, the Koch-led front group Americans for Prosperity will begin a Wisconsin TV and radio ad campaign to promote this assault on workers.

Now we're seeing exactly the same attacks in states like Ohio. Until these governors and politicians ask the corporations and the very rich to pay their fair share, they have no business asking the rest of us for anything.

You can join the fight — www.wearewisconsin.org.

The battle of public employees for their rights in Wisconsin is about fairness, the preservation and expansion of the middle class and keeping the American Dream alive. In the face of a vicious Republican and corporate assault on the ability of workers to negotiate for a better life, Wisconsin's workers are fighting back. They're standing up for their right to collectively bargain and they're standing up for all of us.

The tenacity, courage and commitment of the protesters have been extraordinary. The community support the workers have received has been inspiring. The people of Wisconsin are making history by drawing a serious line in the sand against unbridled corporate power and Republican extremism.

Throughout our nation's history, workers and their unions have fought for better wages, benefits and scores of trailblazing workplace improvements. At the bargaining table, the ballot box, in the halls of Congress and wherever important policy decisions are made, unions have fought for greater opportunity and shared prosperity, for the real American dream (Rachel Maddow has a great segment about Wisconsin's labor history which you can watch here).

In the post World War II era, unionized jobs with good pay and decent health care and retirement benefits helped create and expand America's middle class. It was the promise of America: If you worked hard and played by the rules, you could get ahead. And your kids could do even better.

That promise — the American Dream — has been made possible by the strength of the American labor movement and the sacrifices of countless workers and their families.

Today, union membership is down, unemployment is up and the current generation of young people is the first in years to expect that they won't be as well off as their parents.

Enter Governor Scott Walker, Speaker of the U.S. House John Boehner, Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan and the rest of the Republicans who want an America run by and for the big corporations. Their agenda is to downsize government to dangerous levels, dismantle the public programs that keep our families safe and make our communities strong, export our jobs overseas and do whatever it takes to increase corporate profits and concentrate the nation's wealth into fewer and fewer hands.

These politicians are owned and operated by a powerful cabal of corporations and billionaires like the infamous Koch Brothers, who fund many right-wing front groups such as FreedomWorks who sent people to Madison from across the country this weekend to stage counter-protests.

These politicians and organizations are part of a nationwide effort to take away collective bargaining. They're also trying to take away the important cost-saving benefits and consumer protections of the Affordable Care Act. They want to privatize Social Security and eliminate Medicare as we know it. The want a government that's small enough to starve the poor, shrink the middle class and eliminate small businesses and big enough to regulate who we can love and marry. They want a government that looks the other way when oil companies recklessly drill offshore and mining firms operate without regard for the health and safety of their workers. And they want a government with enough reach to tell a woman, her doctor and her family what to do about private health care decisions.

We have a different vision of the world. As Paul Wellstone would often say, "We all do better when we all do better." We believe that work should be rewarded and workers treated with dignity and respect. We believe in an America where there is opportunity for everyone to achieve their potential and have fulfilling lives, including a secure retirement. We also believe in a robust government that does things we can't do ourselves to improve our collective quality of life. We believe in pitching in and helping each other out. The Republicans and their corporate sponsors believe in every man for himself — the "you're on your own" theory of government and life.

We also believe in unions. As Bob Creamer says in his very fine piece on this struggle, the right to form a union is "an American value." He adds, "The right to form a union is critical to a democratic society because it is the only way to assure that employers do not treat their employees as commodities."

Ground Zero

It's these different visions that the battle in Wisconsin is about, beginning with worker's most basic rights. That's why teachers, correction officers, firefighters, nurses, administrative assistants, sanitation workers, social workers and so many others have banded together like never before. As AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee has said, Wisconsin is "ground zero" for the rights of public employees to unionize.

"If they succeed in Wisconsin, the birthplace of A.F.S.C.M.E., they will be emboldened to attack workers' rights in every state," McEntee says.

As we all know by now, the fight in Wisconsin is not about the money. To the extent that Wisconsin has a budget deficit, it is a problem of the Governor's own making, thanks to tax breaks he just gave to corporations. In fact, the workers have already indicated their willingness to negotiate over legitimate budget issues. Meanwhile, the Governor won't budge — he continues to choose his ideological agenda over the people of Wisconsin.

As the New York Times explains, "In a year when governors across the country are competing to show who's toughest, no matter what the consequences, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin stands out as the first to bring his State Capitol to a halt." The paper continues, "Like many governors, he wants to cut the benefits of state workers. But he also decided a budget crisis was a good time to advance an ideological goal dear to his fellow Republicans: eliminating most collective bargaining rights for public employees."

The Governor's plan is to take away nearly all of the collective bargaining rights of public employees, which would have no impact on the state budget. They would be barred from bargaining about anything except wages, and any pay increase they win would be limited by the consumer price index. Contracts would be limited to a year, and union dues could no longer be deducted from paychecks.

As President Obama noted, with considerable understatement on Wednesday, Walker's proposal "seems like an assault on unions."

At the center of the battle in Wisconsin are AFSCME, SEIU, the teachers (AFT and NEA), the AFL-CIO and many other labor and community organizations. These are the same groups — along with dozens of community, civil rights and faith groups and other unions such as the CWA, UAW and UFCW — that have also been key players in the coalition Health Care for America Now (HCAN) and its grassroots campaign to win (and now promote and defend) the new health care law. Without the power of labor — without the coalition of labor and community groups - we never would won the health care law (labor has also been central to many other victories over the last two years, beginning with the election of President Barack Obama).

"We Stood Up Straight" — The Memphis Strike

AFSCME is not unfamiliar with tough fights where the whole world was watching. In 1968, the sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, famously went on strike for better wages, benefits and working conditions and to get Mayor Loeb to recognize their union, AFSCME Local 1733. On April 3, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech, the last formal remarks he would give before being assassinated the next day. He was in Memphis that night to support the strikers, who had walked off the job 51 days earlier.

Taylor Rogers was one of the strikers. During the nearly 10 years I worked at AFSCME, I had the honor of working with Mr. Rogers at events where he told the story of the strike. Just like Wisconsin's protesters, the Memphis workers went on strike for all of us.

One of Rogers' recollections of the strike is captured in a 2002 article in AFSCME's national magazine.

Rogers remembers the Memphis organizing events as if they happened yesterday. In 1964, Rogers and his co-workers figured that if they had to pick up other people's garbage, they were going to be respected for doing it. So they began to organize.

In those segregated times, African Americans in the South who stood up and demanded justice were ridiculed and harassed. Mayor Henry Loeb and the city council, with the backing of the white community, ignored the workers' union representation with AFSCME.

In February 1968, a crisis erupted: The accidental activation of a packer blade in the back of a garbage truck fatally crushed workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker. "That's when the men said, 'We're tired and we ain't going to take anymore,'" recalls Rogers. "If you bend your back, people can ride it. But if you stand up straight, people can't ride your back. And that's what we did.

"We stood up straight."

The workers in Wisconsin are standing up straight in a big way. Let us all stand with them. There are lots of web pages where you can go to get updates and help. Here's one: www.wearewisconsin.org.

Washington, D.C. – Health Care for America Now (HCAN), the nationwide coalition that led the successful fight for health reform, released the following statement from HCAN Executive Director Ethan Rome on votes by congressional Republicans to block funding to implement the Affordable Care Act and undermine health care for women:

"When the Republicans voted today to defund the Affordable Care Act, they were voting to put their constituents at the mercy of health insurance companies. They were voting to take away important cost-saving benefits and consumer protections from America's families, seniors and small businesses and give control of our health care back to the insurance companies.

"The Republicans are playing an empty shell game with the health care needs of America's consumers. Their 'repeal and replace' campaign pledge was a sham. The GOP's only health care plan is to put the health insurance companies back in charge so they can deny our care and jack up our rates.

"The Republicans also voted today to wage war on women and families by cutting off support for important health services. This reckless vote was a disgrace. House Republicans have the wrong priorities for America's families. We don't need another health care debate – we need Congress to create jobs and put America back to work."

See also HCAN’s latest blog entry on the Huffington Post: Will Attacking Planned Parenthood Create Jobs?

-30-

Health Care for America Now is a national grassroots coalition of more than 1,000 organizations in 46 states representing 30 million people. HCAN led the fight over the past two years to win passage of health reform and to keep Congress from being steamrolled by corporate special interests.

Health care repeal would take away benefits, protections helping millions

Washington, D.C. – Health Care for America Now (HCAN), the nationwide coalition that led the successful fight for health reform, released the following statement from HCAN Executive Director Ethan Rome on efforts by Republicans in Congress to defund the Affordable Care Act (ACA):

The defunding bill exposes the Republican budget proposal for the anti-consumer sham that it is. Instead of putting America back to work, the GOP wants to take away important cost savings and consumer protections from America’s families, seniors and businesses. The GOP wants to take us back to the days when insurance companies could deny your care because you have a pre-existing condition, drop you for getting sick and jack up your rates whenever they felt like it.

Republican House members should tell the truth about what they’re doing. They should tell cancer patients with crushing medical costs that the GOP wants to reinstate annual and lifetime benefit limits that will force them into bankruptcy and deny them the care they need. They should let young adults know they have to quit their parents' health plans. Each Republican member of Congress should go door to door in their districts and tell thousands of seniors to cough up the $250 donut-hole checks the new law provided to help them buy prescription drugs. The Republicans should tell seniors they’re ending the 50% discount on brand-name medicines.

They should have town hall meetings to let small businesses know they’re taking away job-creating tax credits and to tell the parents of sick children who finally got coverage because of the ACA that the Republicans are canceling their insurance.

The Republicans don’t have a legislative agenda on health care – they have an obsession, and they appear to be incapable of getting over it. Meanwhile, the GOP isn’t doing a single thing to create jobs, and that’s what America needs – not another health care debate.

###

Health Care for America Now is a national grassroots coalition of more than 1,000 organizations in 46 states representing 30 million people. HCAN led the fight over the past two years to win passage of health reform and to keep Congress from being steamrolled by corporate special interests.

by Ethan Rome - Executive Director, Health Care for America Now

The House Republicans seem to be saying yes. Apparently, taking away women's access to reproductive health services is an important way to create jobs and get the economy moving again.

That may explain the urgency of Rep. Mike Pence's disgraceful legislation to defund Planned Parenthood and other providers by stripping them of Title X family-planning funding, since creating jobs is the stated priority of the Republicans in Congress. The Republicans also want to take away the new cost-savings and consumer protections in the new health care law, the Affordable Care Act, because this too will apparently create jobs. This is the same GOP that wants to undermine the new law, including re-opening the abortion compromise that unambiguously maintained the prohibition against federal funds paying for abortions. This is all so important to the Republicans that they made one of the bills relating to this issue H.R. 3, among the very first taken up by the House in the 112th Congress. No wonder people are asking Speaker John Boehner, "When are the jobs?"

The GOP is gripped by two obsessions - rolling back the clock on women's health services and giving control of our health care back to the insurance companies. They want to take us back to the days when insurance companies could deny your care because you have a "pre-existing condition," drop you for getting sick and jack up your rates whenever they feel like it. They want to return to the time when being a woman was a pre-existing condition. They want to entirely eliminate family planning funds. When it comes to health care in general and women's health in particular, the Republicans don't have a legislative agenda to move forward - just a fixation on tearing things down and moving backwards.

Meanwhile, the Republicans aren't doing a single thing to create jobs. They're too busy trying to put the insurance companies back in charge of our health care. They're too busy going after vital health care institutions like Planned Parenthood. They're too busy trying to get between a woman and her doctor. That is especially galling because the insurance companies have made decisions about our health care for decades. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, those days are over. Now the House Republicans want to be the ones making those decisions for women. This is nothing short of a war on women and their health care. And it's happening in state capitals as well as Washington, D.C.

This hypocrisy is extreme, even by the standards the Republicans have set since taking control of the House. Take Speaker Boehner's less-than-authentic comments on the matter of the President's religion and birthplace. He has said again and again that he doesn't want to tell the American people "what to think" - or tell members of his own caucus to stop lying about these basic matters of fact. The Speaker's line is offensive - a transparent wink and a nod to those who continue spreading lies about President Obama to intentionally stoke the flames of the far right.

If Boehner is not willing to "tell people what to think" about something so important and basic as the legitimacy of the president of the United States, why is it okay to tell women and their doctors what to do?

Seriously, enough already.

by Ethan Rome - Executive Director of Health Care for America Now

Rick Scott made his fortune in health care by exploiting patients and the federal government as CEO of the world's largest health care company. As governor of Florida, he's now taking away cost-saving health care benefits and patient protections from millions. But this time he's an elected official who swore to uphold the law.

Since an extremist federal judge issued a partisan (and poorly reasoned) opinion finding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) unconstitutional, Scott has been pretending the law doesn't apply to his state. Apparently Scott doesn't care that the judge is only one of four U.S. district judges who have ruled on the constitutionality of the law and that two of them have upheld it. It doesn't seem to matter to Scott that the ACA is the law of the land.

Whether it's a political stunt or the act of an extremist ideologue, Scott is hurting real Floridians in concrete ways, including millions of people with private health insurance or Medicare benefits. He's taking away a law that ends the worst insurance company abuses and frees families, seniors and businesses from crushing health care costs and devastating denials of care.

Scott's brazen disregard for the law is no surprise. He's the former CEO of Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp and was forced to resign in 1997. That happens to be when the company pleaded guilty to a litany of criminal and civil charges, including lying to the government about how sick patients were so the company could collect bigger fees from the taxpayers. As a result, Columbia/HCA agreed to pay $1.7 billion in fines and penalties — the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history.

Scott's refusal now to put the new health care law into effect in Florida has serious consequences. He says it's about the people of Florida, but his action is really about giving control of our health care back to the insurance companies.

Scott should tell his constituents the truth about what he's doing — taking away dozens of cost savings and consumer protections from Florida consumers. He should tell people that he wants to return to the days when insurance companies could deny your care because you have a preexisting condition, drop you for getting sick and jack up your rates whenever they wanted.

Scott should tell cancer patients with devastating medical costs that he wants to reinstate annual and lifetime benefit limits that will force them into bankruptcy instead of providing the care they need. While he's at it the governor can let young adults know they have to quit their parents' health plans. He should go door to door and tell thousands of seniors to cough up the $250 donut-hole checks the ACA provided them to buy prescription drugs — and tell them he's ending the 50% discount they get on brand-name medicines. Scott should call the parents of sick children who finally got coverage because of the ACA and tell them he's canceling their insurance. He should also tell small businesses he's taking away their job-creating tax credits.

Since Scott is independently wealthy, why doesn't he take out ads in all of Florida's local newspapers telling families, seniors, college students and small businesses to start worrying about their health care again? He could also confess that as a rich man he has no idea what it means to be pushed around by health insurance companies or overwhelmed by spiraling costs.

Rick Scott's decision to buck the law is reckless, wrong and morally repugnant. Scott's not alone. Extremists in some states, such as Iowa, Utah and Wyoming, are following his lead, but thankfully a majority of states are appropriately moving forward with implementation–even states like Georgia, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin, which are part of the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law.

It's OK to challenge a federal law. It's not OK to unilaterally refuse to follow it. What Rick Scott is doing is unconscionable.

Health care repeal would ‘take away real protections that are helping millions of people right now’

Washington, DC – Health Care for America Now (HCAN), the nationwide coalition that led the successful fight for health reform, released the following statement from HCAN Executive Director Ethan Rome on plans for the U.S. Senate to vote on repeal of the Affordable Care Act:

“If Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans are serious about repealing the Affordable Care Act, they should tell their constituents the truth about the cost-savings and consumer protections they want to take away. McConnell should go door to door in Kentucky and tell thousands of seniors to cough up the $250 donut-hole checks they received from the new health care law to buy their prescription drugs.

Senator Jim DeMint should telephone South Carolina parents of sick children who finally got coverage and tell them their insurance is now canceled. Senator Jon Kyl should tell Arizona cancer patients with backbreaking medical costs that he wants to reinstate annual and lifetime benefit limits that will force them into bankruptcy instead of getting them the care they need. Senator John Cornyn should tell parents in Texas they have to drop their adult children from their health insurance and just take their chances. Every Republican senator who supports repeal should take out ads in their local newspapers admitting the real impact of this vote and tell families, seniors and small businesses to start worrying about their health care again.

“Senate Republicans should personally explain to their constituents why their political games will take away a law that ends the worst insurance company abuses and liberates families, seniors and businesses from crushing health care costs and devastating denials of care. This isn’t a theoretical debate or a symbolic vote. Senate Republicans are voting to take away real protections that are helping millions of people right now. They should have the courage to look their constituents in the eye and tell them they support doing away with dozens of cost-saving measures and other consumer protections.”

##

Health Care for America Now is a national grassroots coalition of more than 1,000 organizations in 46 states representing 30 million people. HCAN led the fight over the past two years to win passage of health reform and to keep Congress from being steamrolled by corporate special interests.